Kaijōsei
by Zusanheim
Summary: Having found out the truth of her homecoming, the young escaped slave ran away from home in search of answers, truth, and peace. Ten years later Koala has come far in her travels as she now searches for a dream to hold onto and true companions that she can rely on. As it turns out, the latter may have been closer than she thought... Koala-centric! 1st Story! 'For Want of a Nail' AU
1. Chapter 1: Romance Dawn

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. Though Oda certainly cut me off at the pass, so to speak, almost like he knew I was almost ready... I had this baby written out and passed to a friend for beta-ing when that chapter (which shant be numbered to protect the innocent) launched and took the wind out of the sails. Twice in two pages, no less! At least he was nice enough to go with the Revolutionary angle, which leaves me to my own devices.

"Normal speech with an _emphasized _word"

'Out of context speech'

_Thoughts with an _emphasized_ word_

Technique

Hon'yaku (Translation)

And flashbacks are the reverse of the italics for normal speech, thoughts, and emphasis.

**Chapter 1: Romance Dawn**

* * *

><p>The legendary Pirate King, Gol D. Roger's one and only great treasure—One Piece—incites battles across the ocean. Numerous pirates sail the rough seas, raising their flag as they head for the Grand Line. This point in history is the Great Era of Piracy. The brave clash; pirates awarded with high combat abilities gather there. Yet in this era, there remain pirates that prey on the weak across all oceans, and none more so than East Blue.<p>

Being known to some as the Weakest Ocean doesn't keep the weak from preying on the weaker, and even the 'symbol of peace' that the Marines hope to defend was inevitably drawn into the expanding Age of Piracy. Though most pirates that hail from the east pale in comparison to their 'king', to the average townsfolk any major bounty head is a dangerous enemy.

Wrapped up in the approach of a large pirate ship as they should be, the townsfolk of a quaint village in East Blue fail to notice someone climb out of the ocean on the far end of the port. To them, one person rising from the ocean is an average experience; how would the average townsfolk know the significance of every person that arrives at their town in the turning of the age?

Not bothering to shake the seawater away, the drenched figure slipped through the town's alleys to listen in on the townsfolk as they discussed the impending raid, their presence hidden in the shade of the building's eaves.

"I heard he recently received a bounty... A tiny town like ours won't stand a chance..."

_Recently...? _The figure thought tiredly as they leaned into the wall._ We're too far out for it to be anyone outside of East Blue... It's got to be another small-time name..._ Shaking their head in disappointment as they stepped out from the shadows, messy and drenched long brown hair gave way to reveal rounded dark blue eyes, a drenched sky-blue tea-length sundress clinging slightly to her tall form distorting the white fire-like patterns across the waist and skirt. _It's nice that I have a lead or two out here on _his_ whereabouts, but if I'm going to get any more attention I may have to take on the Marines directly at this rate, without any major names to go up against..._

"Hey, isn't the pirate ship coming in kind of fast...?"

"Hmm...?" Catching the question, she peeked back out from the wall to look at the ship itself. A large galley with black sails—flying the Jolly Roger of pirates—the entire railings and upper side of the ship were a pair of purple tones. From the keel, the open maw of a snake comprised the figurehead, its fangs bared with a cannon for a tongue. Before she could really focus in on the pirate mark, she realized that it was, in fact, coming in at a breakneck pace.

_Their sails are still full, heading straight into port...? _the woman questioned; the growing panic on her face would have been palpable if the townsfolk could see it. _They'll run right into the dock! I don't know how sturdy the foundations are here, but I'm not about to let them find out!_ Leaping out from cover with resolution setting in, the woman dove out towards the port between some of the already-retreating citizens.

"Get back, _now_!" Not questioning the conviction in the mystery woman's demand, the crowd split as she ran uninhibited to the edge of the wood planks where she planted herself, her feet and sandals dipped into the sea as she closed her eyes and seemed to meditate on the pier as the ship sailed right towards her.

"What is that girl doing?" a short man with clover-like black hair, mustache, glasses asked out loud as she stayed still as the ship approached.

A young blond woman with a light ponytail poked her head out from behind another building, "That ship's going to hit her if she doesn't do something...!"

_It won't be at full strength in the water, but I don't want to destroy the boat anyways... Here goes!_ Eyes opening with resolve, the woman in the sundress pushed herself off the pier with core strength alone. In that instant as she muttered beneath her breath, it seemed as if she stood on the water as she thrust her fist towards the ship in a sturdy forward stance. One moment became two, then three, when the watching townsfolk realized it wasn't just an instant, as she seemingly stood atop the now rippling waves.

Suddenly the wind and water exploded out toward the ship in force, ocean crashing against the prow as the sails violently caught the change in the air. As the ship slowed rapidly, those watching did all they could to withhold their shouts of surprise—compounded further as the foresails tore apart and audible cracks were heard as the ship inched closer. Finally, the ship slowed to a stop right at the girl's outstretched fist as the seas calmed. Starting to fall into the water, she gripped the ship before her and brought her legs up to kick off, back-flipping onto the pier with a flurry of seawater.

The drenched woman scratched the back of her head, chiding herself out loud as she looked up to the foremast, "Damn, I still have a long way to go... I should have been able to break the mast, or at least all the sails..."

_T-the mast...?_ was the collective paling thought of the townsfolk as her statement sunk in. _What _is_ this lady?!_

"Mmmmm? Seems like a bit of a ghost town..."

Looking up, everyone focused on the speaker, a young man that had appeared atop the purple figurehead while everyone had been focused on the crazy feat the soaked female (who also looked up to see the new arrival) had performed, which the onlookers quickly responded to in whispers.

"He's here...!"

"That's Crescent Moon Galley?"

"Isn't Crescent Moon known for his beard?"

"It must be that hat. It is Crescent-shaped..."

"I see! Crescent Moon's Hat..."

"Odd..." the blond pondered, much more calmly than her fellow townsfolk as she squinted her brown eyes, "I thought he'd look stronger..."

The short bespectacled man standing before the ship (though behind the brunette) blinked in confusion. "...Why is only one person coming out...?"

Still making no effort to dry herself, the fellow newcomer put her hand to her chin in thought. "Definitely not Galley, and I haven't seen that face on any wanted posters; heck, he doesn't even look like the kinda guy to be worth 5,000,000 Beli, let alone any realistic bounty... So why does something seem familiar...?"

"Well, there's places to get food at least," continued the young man atop the pirate ship, hand gripped to a round straw hat about his short black hair as his red vest and blue shorts swayed in the remnants of his fellow outsider's gust of wind, "Fighting people made me hungry again. Man, I can't believe this ship didn't have any food stored..."

"Bastard!" a man shouted from the deck at the teen, "Just who do you think I am?! I'm Crescent Moon Galley! Don't think you'll get away with this!"

And indeed it was. Tied to the mast where his signature mustache and beard were far away from the view of the other onlookers, the fancily dressed captain shouted at the youth between his two remaining crewmates. Remaining that is, because the rest of them lay strewn about on deck knocked out. Yet despite the clear loss, the orange-haired captain continued to run his mouth as if he wasn't tied to the mast with his crew sprawled about him with various degrees of concussions between them. Instead he was ranting like he already holding a blade to the kid's throat. "You just caught us off guard, that's why we los—wait, _what?!_ I didn't lose! As if I could lose, idiot!"

Sighing, the young boy turned back to the tied up pirates. "All I wanted was a little food, and you went and picked a fight with me," Pausing for a moment, he gestured the shape of the captain's mustache, "'Weird beard', right?"

"_Who's the one picking a fight?!_" Calming his rage into something more controllable, he continued. "This time you've angered the wrong man. Nobody messes with Crescent Moon Galley an—HEY!" Caught up in his own speech, he only then realized that the focus of his anger had already left.

"He left," his stouter crewmate stated the obvious.

"_I see that!_" Galley yelled back, smacking him in the face with his forehead, "_I'll kill him!_"

At the same time, the shorter man in front of the ship pondered out loud, "I wonder what their demands are..." What he was not expecting was the young man to leap down beyond him, the clacking of his sandals echoing across the pavement as he hit the ground running and shouted an appropriate answer to his query.

"Foooooood~!"

"EEEEEEEEH~?" the townsfolk cried in surprise as he ran off into town.

"Ah!" The brown-haired woman straightened up, shaking more water from herself unintentionally, "Could it be...?"

—-—-—

"Oooohohohooooo! A diner!" the hyperactive teen cheered before a nice building labeled 'Cafe & Bistro', "Excuse me for the disturbance!"

"There you are! I've been searching for you!" Turning to the side, he saw a blond woman break into a run towards him as she drew a sword.

"Who are yo—?"

"Prepare yourself, Crescent Moon Galley!" Leaping into the air, the blond swung the sword straight at him and landed on the other side. "Hmph. That ought to scare you," she muttered to herself as she turned around, only to freeze in shock and drop her weapon. "AH!"

Standing before her, the young man's head and neck were completely gone, his hat rolling off to the side.

"I decapitated him!" she cried in a panic, her face comically pale and wide, "W-What do I _do?!_ I only meant to scare him!"

Suddenly the drenched brown-haired woman appeared from behind the blond inquisitively, before crying out with a similar expression, "UAAAAHHH! You decapitated him! Why would you do that?!"

The latter's response was notably reasonable, "UUAAAH! Where did you come from?!"

*boing* Both of the panicking women turned to see the young man's head bouncing back into place seemingly out of nowhere. The woman in the sundress took it surprisingly well with a deep sigh, while the other let out another yelp of shock, neither of which phased the young man as he turned around to face them. "What was that all of a sudden? That's dangerous, you know!"

She, of course, was still building into a panic-attack. "AAAAH—!"

The black-haired teen, however, finally had enough, "And what's with all the yelling? It's annoying!"

Taking in a deep breath to get a grip, the blond pointed lightly to try and grasp any chunk of reality, "...Aren't you Crescent Moon Galley...?"

To which he questioned simply, "Who's that?"

"What part of him screams 'Crescent Moon' to you...?" the soaked woman questioned back as she tilted her head looking at him.

"Umm, well..." Silk looked down half in embarrassment and half in thought, "Didn't you come from that boat?"

Not-Galley turned at the waist back to face the boat "Yeah, and cause of that—"

The blond blinked, "Then, who are you?"

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy," he replied with a grin on his face, "A pirate."

"Pirate?" Grabbing her sword, the blond immediately tried to ward Luffy away. "Get out of this town, now! You'll not lay one finger on my treasure!"

Luffy kept hopping back in confusion, "Treasure...?"

"Woah, hold up there!" the brunette calmly slid in-between the sword strikes, seemingly deflecting them with her bare hands

Finally realizing that another person had stepped in the way of her slashes, she ended her onslaught with hesitation and confusion, "What are you doing? He's here to plunder this town!"

"I'm not here for dumb things like that..." Luffy replied bluntly.

To which the blond responded in the most eloquent way possible. "Huh?"

"All the label of pirate means is that they're defying those in power—the World Government," the dripping wet brunette jumped in as Luffy went to pick up his hat, "There's a good number of people like me who didn't start out wanting to be pirates, you know." She paused, flashing a broad smile across her face offering her hand to the blond. "I'm Koala, by the way. Nice to meet you!"

The latter just nodded dumbly at the odd turn of events and shook Koala's hand. "Um... Silk... Nice to meet you too... So you're not with Galley...?"

"No." "Nope."

"Okay... So wha—"

"AAAHHHHH!" Luffy suddenly cried out.

"W-What?"

"My hat! My hat got cut! OI!" He called out as he rounded on Silk, "Look at what you did to my treasure, you...!"

Silk blinked, "Treasure...? A Straw Hat, Treasure?"

—-—-—

"Sorry again," Silk apologized as she brought more food over to the two pirates both heartily eating inside her restaurant. Despite her quite perfect manners, somehow Koala was downing food at a rate only somewhat slower than Luffy, and without a speck of mess on her or her sundress. Thankfully she had dried herself off somehow before coming inside, her hair now an almost golden shade of brown in a somewhat neat arrangement of bangs and locks. The fiery white designs were now discernible as variously sized suns, while the lightened hues of her dress revealed a black stripe about the waistline like a belt. "Can you ever forgive me for cutting your treasure?"

"It's not a problem. After all, you mended it for me," he replied, without stopping his rate of eating, "Sorry for eating all of your food, by the way."

"Oh! Sorry, I should have asked and not dug in..." Koala looked down somberly as she replaced her silverware.

"Nnnnn, don't worry about it you two," Silk replied, taking a seat across from Koala with Luffy at the head of the table. "A straw hat is kind of an unusual treasure, though..."

"Is it...?" Finally swallowing his food, he went to hold his treasure in his hands.

"Even if it wasn't, it is when you get it from someone as well-known as Shanks," Koala said as she shook her head.

"Shanks...?" Silk asked back with interest, "As in the infamous Yonko, 'Red-Haired' Shanks?"

"Yeah!" Luffy answered with pride. "With this hat, I promised to assemble a crew and become a pirate."

Silk couldn't help but stare as she asked the obvious. "Are you really just a pirate?"

"Just an ordinary pirate," he replied with glee as he pulled the hat tightly around his head, "searching for the great treasure—One Piece. Ah, but I guess when I become the Pirate King I wouldn't be ordinary anymore."

"Hmmm..." Silk sounded in response, mulling something over with a smile on her face.

"Zaahahahaha! I wouldn't call searching for One Piece ordinary for most pirates out here in East Blue, Luffy."

"Really..." Pausing in his eating, Luffy turned to Koala with his head tilted, "Hey, how did you know I got my hat from Shanks?"

Chuckling, Koala rested her chin on the back of her hand as she leaned her elbow on the table, "Not only your appearance, but your attitude to a T as well. Ace certainly holds you in high regard."

"You met Ace!?" Luffy jumped up in excitement.

"Back when he was first heading into the Grand Line, we crossed paths in Loguetown," she replied. "It's still kinda surreal hearing how famous he's become."

Silk was turning a little pale now at this revelation, "Wait, by Ace do you mean the Whitebeard 2nd Commander? 'Fire-Fist' Ace?"

"Yeah, he's my brother!" Pausing, Luffy tilted his head in confusion. "I never really understood the whole 'Fire-Fist' thing, though."

Leaning back in her chair, Silk sat there in awe for a good moment before Koala came around and patted her on the shoulder. "One of the first things I learned about Luffy from Ace: humble to a fault, and it runs in the family; don't let it get to you." _Especially since you haven't heard the crazier parts yet,_ she thought to herself.

Sighing for a moment, the blond turned to look at her with a hint of sarcasm. "And you? Not going to tell me an ordinary pirate like yourself gets to meet famous pirates like "Fire-Fist" all the time too?"

That got a laugh out of Koala as she went back to her seat. "Nah, I wouldn't even really count meeting Ace since he wasn't famous yet, just earning his bounty. And I'm not sure I'm up for finding One Piece. Like I said, I didn't start out wanting to be a pirate at first; it just grew on me as my goals grew into it." Looking out the window, her eyes watered a bit as she stared out at the sun peaking out from beyond the clouds.

_Tiger-ojii-san! Thank you for keeping your promise! I'll never forget you, Aladdin-san, Hachi-san, or any of the Sun Pirates for the rest of my life! Thank you so much!_

"It's been about ten years since I left home searching for truth... for peace..." Koala finally spoke, her bangs shadowing her eyes, "If there's one thing I have learned through my travels, it's that I want to find my own treasures, my own things worth protecting. But first I have to come to terms with all the things that brought me here. It's for that purpose that I'm here in East Blue: I have to make peace with myself and all that's happened, make amends for things that I inadvertently caused..." And just like that her bangs lifted and a happy, meaningful smile lit up her expression as she cleared some impending tears from her eyes. "And most importantly, I have to thank all the people that have supported me up until now."

Smiling for a moment, Silk figured she ought to share their courtesy and stood up from the table and she told them about herself. "I'm actually a pirate's child. A pirate's abandoned child..."

"Really?" Koala questioned as she and Luffy listened in to Silk's story.

"For years, this town has been raided by pirates. Fifteen years ago, pirates sacked the village and left me, one of their children, behind." Silk shook her head for a moment before continuing. "You'd think they'd hold a grudge, show me no mercy the child of the pirates that destroyed their homes... But they let go of their anger instead, and the whole town raised me as their own. That's why this town is my treasure."

Koala grinned back as she ate another slice of meat. "That's wonderful."

"Hoh..." Luffy intoned as he finished his drink to wash down the last of his food.

"Understand?" she said to Luffy with a bit of frustration as she slammed her hand down on the table. "I don't ever want the townspeople to suffer like that again. If I have to, I'll fight by myself to defend them! There were pirates on that ship you arrived on, right?"

"Thanks of the food!" Luffy called out lazily as he started walking out.

"Pay attention! I'm asking about Galley!"

"Hey, Luf—Oh!" Koala did a double take as she sat back at the table, "Thank you for the meal!"

Luffy stopped outside the restaurant and turned back towards the door, "Galley?"

"Yeah, Crescent Moon Galley," Koala replied as both ladies stepped out of the restaurant.

"Who's that?" Luffy replied with a tilt of the head, "Odd name..."

Silk sighed slightly, "Was he really not there? He's supposed to be the Captain of that ship you came in on..."

"You insect-gathering bastard! I'll never forgive you!" From the side of the cafe, Galley and the two crew members that Luffy had tied to the mast came out, Galley's hand on his sheathed sword while the other two had theirs drawn. "Making fun of my name, too, how dare you make fun of Galley-sama! Ah, you piss me off..."

Luffy's eyebrows narrowed slightly. "He untied himself... Hmm?" Pausing, he tilted his head to the side. "Ah, he did say his name, didn't he..."

"Zaahahahahaha!" laughed Koala as she clutched her stomach, laughing and panting as she tried to get a grip and speak. "Wha-what kinda insult is *snort* 'insect-gatheri-'ahahah! Zaahahahahahahahaa!"

"Eh...Galley?" Silk interjected, ignoring Luffy and Koala as they tuned the bearded man out, "Crescent Moon Galley?!"

"That's right, little girl! You scared?!" he sneered with a grin almost as crescent as his facial hair, "After I kill this guy, I'll gather up all this town's glittering treasu—_will you stop laughing?!_"

"Zaaha zaahaha zaahahaha..." Taking a deep breath, the brunette managed to calm her laughter down and stare down the trio of pirates down the street... for ten seconds, before she had to turn away and giggle in her hands in a futile gesture to show courtesy.

Spittle flew from his mouth as he shouted, "You're doing that on purpose, damn it!"

Silk turned to admonish Luffy, "What were you saying! He's right here!"

"Ohhh, you were talking about him..." Luffy realized, "He's here."

"I can see that!" the blond shook her head before turning back towards the orange-haired pirate, "Just what did you do to them? They're so angry..."

Sighing, Luffy turned back to him as well. "They started attacking me first. All I said was 'Weird Beard', and—"

*snort* "Weird Beard...! Hehahaha! Zaahahahahahaa!"

"There you go again, making a mockery of me! Both of you!" Working himself up, Galley started stomping on the ground. "Ah, I'm so angry, being insulted like this! I'm gonna kill the both of 'em and get 'em out of my sight!" Suddenly from all around, his other crewmates gathered up with weapons drawn ready to attack. "Get rid of 'em!"

Silk moved to draw her blade, only for Koala to catch and sheathe it and Luffy to move her to the side. "You'll be in the way, get back." Luffy spelled out briefly for her as Galley's two main crewmates aimed their swords to slice him up. Dodging by jumping high in the air, the young man leapt over the whole group of pirates to land before Galley himself. With a grin on his face he reiterated, "You started this fight!", punching him in the gut before throwing a kick to the face. With a loud crash and an almost cartoonish cry he smashed through the wooden wall of a nearby house, sending a wave of fear through his crew.

"Oi oi, don't go showing off too much," the crew whipped back around to see the brunette in their midst with her arms crossed shaking her head, "These guys aren't even good enough for a warm-up..."

One crewmember grimaced and called out, "You bitch...!" as he and two others dove in with their own weapons swinging, only for her to sidestep all three of them and slide to their undefended backsides.

She smiled as all three of her opponents slumped over unconscious, "...since I'm assuming neither of us are going to get to fight all of them."

The remaining crew's resolve wavered at that. "What was that...?" one spoke for the group, "I didn't see her do anything...!"

"Shishishi... Guess not!" Luffy grinned as he dove into the fray. Ducking under two strikes, he sprung into a roundhouse kick to one of their faces, using the momentum to elbow the other, and continued to roll into each blow taking down another man with every hit.

On the other side, Koala had a different sort of momentum going, sliding through the group pirates as they fell down behind her. In seconds, the two of them had cleared out half of their opponents, Luffy now rapidly launching them into buildings while Koala left a neat pile of bodies, leaving Silk staring in awe. "Amazing! Those two are this strong...?"

"Shit..." Slowly stepping out of the wall Luffy put him through as he cleared out the cobwebs, Galley turned back to look for his offenders, only to see his crew nearly all unconscious yet again. "What!? You runts! Don't get so full of yourselves!"

Suddenly Galley's first two men, who appeared to be his lieutenants, whipped out pistols and aimed them at Silk at almost point-blank range. "Cowards!" She admonished, trying to subtly reach for her sword.

"So what...?" the fat one chuckled as he cocked his flintlock.

"If you care about her life, then don't move," the taller one chimed in, "If you move even a little, I'll shoot!"

The rest of Galley's men moved in to finish Luffy and Koala off as Galley smirked with confidence. "Die."

Both of them smirked, however, and took out the last of their attackers anyways.

"O-Oi, stop!" panicked the heavier pirate, "Don't you care about her life?!"

Koala pulled her right arm to her side with the other outstretched and got into a wide horse stance, calling "I'll take the left!" while Luffy swung his left arm above his head away from the two remaining grunts.

"I-I'll shoot!" the tall one joined his compatriot in his growing fear, readying his flintlock to fire as well.

"Just shoot!" Galley shouted out.

"Uuahh!" "Hah!" Koala's right hand shot out as her left returned to her waist and Luffy swung his arm back towards their targets. To the surprise of everyone else, however, Luffy's arm stretched out across the distance to strike the larger pirate and send him flying, while the taller man's legs shot out from under him as he flew back clutching his gut. Both dropped their flintlocks and fell to the ground a good distance away, completely out cold.

"No way, his arm stretched!" Silk cried out in surprise as she fell to her knees, before turning to look at the tall pirate, "And she struck him from over there somehow too?"

"Devil's Fruit Users?!" questioned Galley as Luffy's arm retracted back to its normal length. "Ah! This is no time to be surprised! Just die already!" Whipping out his own flintlock, he immediately went and shot Luffy in the heart, eliciting a high-pitched scream from Silk as the teen stumbled back, his hat falling to the ground. "That's what you get for being too full of yourself!" Reaching for another pistol to shoot Koala with, he froze when Luffy stopped falling and widened his stance, grinning even wider than before. "Impossible...!"

"That won't work...! I'm rubber!" From behind Luffy a length of skin stretched from behind where he was shot, all the way to in front of Silk's face.

"No way..."

"What the hell?!" At that moment, Luffy clenched his fists and thrust his body forward as the stretched part retracted, launching the bullet past Galley and leaving a quickly-bleeding cut on his left cheek as he gaped with an audible tone of terror.

Luffy brushed himself off and put on his fallen hat, "Ah, that surprised me..."

Still gaping, Galley could only stutter out, "Pistols don't even work...?"

"What are you...?" Silk questioned.

Luffy smiled as he turned back to her, grabbing his lips and stretching them out to the sides as he spoke. "I ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi (Rubber Rubber Fruit) awhile back, so now my whole body is like rubber; I'm a rubber-man." Letting go, his face rebounded back to normal with a loud snap. "Interesting, right? In exchange for being a hammer, I got this ability."

"Rubber-man...?"

"It's one thing to know it's going to happen," Koala began as Luffy let out a laugh, "It's another thing to actually see it in action. Still, I certainly do agree that it's interesting and effective; it seems like you did a good job training it up since Ace last saw you—he might be in for a surprise, though I doubt you can beat him."

Luffy shook his head. "Nah, Ace is really strong. I've never beaten him once when we fought—he's probably way stronger now."

"Damn it! I'll remember this, damn it!" Galley yelled as he ran followed by his crew, dragging those still unconscious behind them in a hurry.

Walking over to Silk, Luffy offered a hand to her. "Here. Are you alright?"

Still stunned as she rose—Koala at her back helping her up as well—Silk stared blankly before replying, "Um, yeah, thanks."

"Ah!" Luffy exclaimed as a bead of sweat trickled down his head, "I left my boat tied to their ship. I'd better get it back quick!" And just like that he dashed off.

"Hey, Luffy!" Sighing as the Pirate King hopeful rushed off to the dock, Koala turned back to Silk. "I'd better catch up with him and sort this out. But before I do, I'm looking for some people that might have passed through. Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?"

—-—-—

Looking around Galley's ship for his own, Luffy saw the clover-haired man approaching him, his eyes hidden in the glint of his glasses.

Not that Luffy was looking at his face. With a call of awe he ran over to the man hurriedly. "Hey, old man, that's a cool hairdo! It's like a flying bird or something!"

His face lifted a bit further to look at the straw-hat boy, the shadows down the center of his face lightening as he spoke. "You're a pirate, huh..."

"Yep. A pirate." Luffy grinned, completely oblivious to the man's stare.

Dead silence save for the sound of rolling waves passed before the bespectacled man called out resolutely, "Get him!" and out from all the buildings came the villagers of the town, brandishing makeshift weapons and rope as they surrounded the would be Pirate King, to his ever-growing surprise at the situation.

"Ehhhhh? Eehhh? Eehhhh? _Eehhhhhhh?!_" Luffy uttered in confusion and shock as the villagers leapt at him all at once.

Within moments, Luffy was tied with his arms behind his back in ring after ring of rope, seemingly uncaring of his predicament as his capturers cheered at their success.

"Ahahahaa!" The clover-haired man chuckled in relief as he wiped his brow, "With this, the town is saved!"

One of the civilians called out from the other side of the young teen, "You let your guard down, Galley!"

"Aren't you confusing me with someone else?" Luffy questioned.

"Don't bother trying to be cute about it..." another of the townsfolk replied.

"But I'm really not him...!"

"Exactly!" From behind the bespectacled man, the true captain of the Crescent Moon Pirates stepped forwards with a saber drawn, his men behind him similarly armed as they smiled with ill intent. "Good work, you maggots. I am Galley! You see my 'Crescent Moon' beard, yes?" With a grin he pulled his mustache down and let it spring back into place with a boing.

Running up from between the street, Silk gasped as she saw what was going on. "Shoot, I'm too late..."

—-—-—-—

Lying with her back to the slanted roof of the bell-tower, Koala sighed as she stared out at the ocean; her dress swaying calmly in the breeze above the town. "In the end, no good info on anybody, and considering how much Galley covets his riches, he'd probably still be pissed if he'd been hit, so his crew's a dead-end too... Though I suppose Luffy did irritate him quite a bit, so he may just be letting it out on a nearby target." _Kinda like how Jinbe-sama let Arlong run rampant in East Blue...?_ She shook the negative speculation out of her head.

_Arlong may be incredibly prejudiced against humans but he's still a person, not a rabid dog to be unleashed and put down,_ the brunette reminded herself. _Jinbe-sama had to have had his reasons for what he did. In any case, Arlong being free means I can meet him in person—beat him, maybe, in the worst scenario—and get one step closer to meeting Jinbe-sama at last; they can't possibly keep Arlong's defeat from him, the way they keep my bounty low as long as they can. Even still..._

"Oi! Hurry up!"

"Hmmm...?" Looking to the side for the source of the yelling, Koala spied Galley's crew trying to replace the sails she had shredded as the crew slowly set sail with what they had. "Did Luffy finally chase them out of town? Wait..." Looking closely, she spied the bags of loot being carried inside the ship. "Did they still raid the town somehow? What happened to Silk and Luffy, then...? Ah!" She froze as her face paled, "I was supposed to go find Luffy! I totally forgot!"

Leaping up and pushing off the tiling, she dove from rooftop to rooftop towards the coast, rolling at each landing to lessen the impacts as her sundress fluttered in the wind. After a few jumps she made it to the edge of town where the dock began, where she saw Silk helping a tied-up Luffy out of the water with his hat in hand. Looking to the right, all the villagers were gathered up with emotions from anger to sadness visible in their faces and bodies.

"So what, just give up?" Luffy spoke with some anger in his voice as well, having put his hat back on as he stared out at the escaping ship, "Is that all your treasure is worth to you? Isn't it something truly precious?"

"If it's really that painful, then don't forgive them," Koala chimed in. Diving off the roof into the ocean, she surfaced again with an assured smile, "Right, Luffy?"

Silk gripped her shirt, drawing water from it as she spoke with tears flowing from her eyes, "Even if you didn't say it, it's really frustrating!"

"Good. In that case," Luffy turned back to her with a smile on his face, "I'll kick their asses for you."

'...!' Koala turned around rapidly in the water towards the boat, _...this shift in the air...!_ "Uchimizu (Water Shot)!" Swinging her arm out of the water, numerous water droplets flew with unreal speed off of her arm into the air towards the ship as the sound of falling cannon fire whistled in the air. The cannonballs collided with the water droplets and redirected many into the ocean or over the town into the hillside beyond; some even hit enough droplets to explode prematurely. "This level of bombardment won't get past me," she grinned as she started swimming in a backstroke towards the ship, flinging water in the way of the cannons with every stroke. "Luffy, I'll take care of this, you get out there and kick some ass!"

Silk let her jaw drop low alongside the rest of the townsfolk as they watched drops of water somehow protect their village from destruction. "H-how is she doing that? She's swimming so it's not a Devil's Fruit, and yet she can do something like this...?"

Luffy chuckled, "You see? Anybody can become strong and protect their treasures. We got this one, but you should grow strong too, and protect your own treasure from now on. That's why you should smile, Silk!" Looking up at Luffy, she saw him let out another 'shishishishi' before explaining, "If you don't smile, how can you expect all the people here to smile either? So cheer up!"

"Luffy..." Silk muttered before she wiped the tears from her eyes.

Giving her one last grin, Luffy leapt up to the rooftops behind the bell-tower, hopping to a lower-roof that seemed to line up with Galley's firing ship. "Alright, this seems good." Stretching his arm out to the roof, he launched himself in a high arc over Galley's ship and the exploding wave of cannon fire still being blocked by Koala. Puffing himself up like a balloon, he slowed his descent and fell softly into the new sails before swinging himself to the masthead to look at the whole crew, who were still scrambling to get their wits about them—not knowing what had flown into their sail.

His portly crewmate caught on first and cried out, "Captain...!"

Galley turned quickly, "What is i—GEH!"

Luffy simply showed off the teeth behind his confident grin, "It's not 'Geh'. I'm Luffy."

The brunette gracefully leapt out of the water from behind Luffy and landed next to him, "And I'm Koala! Nice to meet you! Luffy," she turned to face her fellow friendly pirate, "since you got to take these guys down once already, mind if I have a crack? I'm always looking to refine my technique."

Luffy just grinned wider, "Sure thing, watching you fight is interesting. Ah, just don't beat up 'Weird Beard'," a snort escaped from the once-again drenched woman, "he's mine."

Galley responded as he always responded to things that he didn't understand—by screaming at them. "Bastards! _Why_ are you alive? _How_ did you stop the bombardment!? _How_ did you get on this ship!?"

Koala stepped forward and stopped in the same forward stance from before as she stared out at the crew. Humoring their hysterical captain, she answered, "Cause we're better than a waste-of-space rookie like you. And if we weren't, you'd have a division of the Whitebeard Pirates coming down on you... And probably the Red-Haired Pirates... Maybe even 'Kaikyō no Jinbe' and the Sun Pirates...Worst case scenario, 'Hero of the Marines' Garp-chūjō (Vice-Admiral)... Just think how lightly you're getting off just having two young squirts like us kick your ass when you could be having it served to you on a silver platter in the Tarai Current, Mr. 5 Million."

The orange-haired captain expressed his surprise in the most eloquent way possible. "I have to _pee!_"

The brunette tuned him out as she continued; "Getting on board is nothing for me. As for Luffy, he just launched himself like a rubber band. Kinda obvious, really... As to your remaining inquiries..." Widening her smile as she gave the Crescent Moon Pirates a very creepy smiling face, she taunted them with her forward hand to bring it on, "Step right up and learn first hand the wonders a mere imitation of Fishman Karate can do."

Panicking but holding firm, Galley pulled out his sword and pointed it towards her, "Wha...What are you trying to say, bitch...? You don't scare me at all! You may be able to deflect cannon fire, and knock out men without touching them from far away, and still swim despite having freaking skills, but if we break your leg or slice you in half, it's over! Probably...! Everyone! Send this wench to hell!"

As nervous as the crew was to see the rubber-man back and chomping at the bit to take a crack at their captain, they were far less worried about the dripping wet intruder. Those who had been knocked out had just passed out without pain, and this time they were all going in against her at once. Sufficiently confident in their chances, they roared with a battle cry to match their captain's call and charged in weapons swinging.

Instead of moving or tensing up, Koala simply let her eyes close as she let out a long exhale. Time seemed to slow down as she concentrated. _Uchimizu is good enough to slow down or redirect cannon balls, but that's only with numbers; my accuracy with most water techniques is still pretty bad, and the strength pales in comparison to what Jinbe-sama can do. But there is one water move I got down pretty damn good, and it's from that technique that I've gotten to where I am._

"What's she doing?" one of the pirates laughed at her as they ran up to cut her down, "Is she gonna stand there and die?"

Opening her eyes, she inhaled deeply. "As if. Gyojin Karate (Fishman Karate)!" she declared and, without stepping forward, threw a punch in the air in line with her forward foot, causing a shift in the air that only Luffy seemed to notice, indicated with a squint of his eyes.

"Idiot," another pirate sneered as they surrounded her completely and moved in to strike, "What can a punch from that far away do-ooouah!?" Mid-speech, his head distorted strangely away from the brunette martial artist. At the same time, numerous pirates fell onto the deck as their feet slid out from beneath them; those with better footing also started distorting as they slid away from her. Barely a second passed before the pulse intensified and scores of pirates were sent flying off the ship into the ocean, leaving less than half of the Crescent Moon Pirates standing in abject horror.

"Karakusagawara Seiken (Arabesque Tile True Punch)!" She called out before cracking her neck with a renewed smile at the damage she had dealt to the crew—both in numbers and morale.

Galley's taller lieutenant slumped to the ground next to him in shock, "N-No way...!"

Her smile widened further as she bounced on the balls of her feet, "Where there's a will...right?"

"Captain...!" the larger lieutenant started as he gripped his captain's shoulders, "These two are too strong, we ca—" Before he could finish, the suddenly found it hard to speak due to having a bare foot in his solar plexus, sending him careening through his taller compatriot off the starboard side of the ship. Galley could only slowly turn to stare at Koala, who had somehow come in from a completely different angle to take out his two best crewmates.

"Nope," the soaked woman stated bluntly with a smile that spoke only of painful injuries to the remainder of the crew, "You don't get to run. One way or another, you're getting your money's worth of ass kicking—and you _are_ paying, with every last Beli you took from that village. So I'll just say this for your benefit: fight back. Because running means I won't be happy, and running mostly means into the ocean," Ignoring the paled face of Galley, she smacked her fist in her open palm, which caused the ship to shudder and shake, "And then you can be the judge which is the crueler mistress."

"Captain," one of Galley's crew ran out from the stern, "The rudder just broke off! We can't control the ship!"

Galley turned back to Koala with murder in his eyes, "You insect-collecting bitch! I'll—"

"Nope." Koala simply swept his legs out from under him and gave him a kick before he hit the ground, sending him bouncing and rolling over to Luffy who stopped him with a sandal in Galley's face, before she turned back to the crew. Though they were all scared beyond belief, she could see that only a few were looking for an excuse to flee. _Have to hit them first then, I guess._

A whoop of enjoyment escaped her as she leapt into the fray, throwing punches that found hit their marks as bursts of air in the more cowardly pirates' jaws and guts as she descended upon them. Landing with a roll, she raised off her knees with a backhanded punch to last runner's skull, following up with an elbow as he exposed his spine. With a crack his head smashed through the deck, tripping an attacker who was trying to strike from behind. Arm locked in position, she pivoted around so the man fell right into her waiting fist, and then launched him from it into the oncoming wave of pirates—catching two others and throwing them into the cracked mast.

Without turning, Koala ducked sideways just before one of the pirates swung a large axe through where her torso had been, planting her hands and launching into a kick straight to his throat. Still in the air, she caught his shoulder with her other leg and flipped herself over, kicking off of his head and somersaulting forward. Landing with an axe kick, a burst of wind from her impact knocked three others off their feet. The martial artist let out a roar and clapped her hands together at chest level as the air smashed the three airborne pirates into each other before they dropped unconscious onto the ship. Turning to the side to dodge yet another strike, this time from the right, she thrust one palm narrowly past the attacker's face, knocking another few men into the ocean.

Before he could blink, her other palm still resting at her center dropped down and pushed his hand towards the ground; her other palm coiled slightly and launched across her body to meet the man's chin as his head followed his arm's descent. As another pirate tried to come at her from above on a rope, she launched her palm upward with another pivot sending them crashing into each other as she moved her right palm over her left as if holding a ball between them. Right as the two fell to her height, she ran forward and smashed shoulder, elbow, and fist into their bodies with the sound of breaking bones echoing over the ocean as they too flew into more unprepared pirates, taking them out of action.

Finally getting up, Galley could only quiver in a mixture of anger, shock, and fear as he winced at the sound, "Why is she so absurdly strong!?"

The roar of footsteps and drawing of blades alerted the brunette far in advance as a large group charged in from behind with sabers and cutlasses ready to slice her up. Bringing outstretched arms across her body as she widened her stance, she drew them back cocked at her sides with another shout, releasing a wide burst of wind that sent her attackers smashing into the deck to join their comrades in unconsciousness. Moving towards the aft end of the ship, she eyed the remaining pirates as they ran back out from within with pistols at the ready.

Galley grinned at that, gaining some semblance of confidence as he pointed at Koala, "That's right, rubber-boy here can't be hurt by 'em, but you'll bite the dust for sure! Shoot the bitch full of holes!"

Grinning, Koala opened her palms; "Now now, didn't anyone tell you it's impolite to point things at a lady?" Thrusting them both forward, an abnormally large amount of water suddenly flew from her dress towards the gun-toting pirates, drenching them and their weapons. To their dismay, the powder failed to light when they tried to fire, inciting Luffy to let out a great laugh at the faces they made as a result. No longer drenched, she brought her hands down swiftly in a pulling motion; the last thing they felt was their wet clothes throwing them forward into the deck before they jarringly entered unconsciousness.

Stretching her arms into the air, the brunette let out a satisfied sigh as she walked over to the door inside. "He's all yours Luffy, I'm going to go get the town's treasure back." Ignoring Galley's angry cries, she went inside to where the Crescent-Moon Pirates had stored all of the treasure they'd been gathering. _I'm letting him handle Galley, so I'll just take a bit for the road to make up for the lost bounty. 5,000,000 Beli is chump change out of here by the looks of it; there's easily twice what they took from Silk's village._

Pocketing the paper money, she heard Luffy start talking to Galley (something about stepping on his treasure; Koala honestly wasn't paying much attention) as she went about compacting the riches into bigger containers. She was just hefting a large bag onto her back when she heard Luffy calling something out.

"Gomu Gomu no...!"

"Ah, hell..." Koala deadpanned as she grabbed the other chest she'd stuffed the gold coinage into and dove for the window.

"...Ono (Rubber Rubber Axe)!" She leapt out the window in the nick of time as the ship collapsed into its keel where Luffy had planted his extended foot, breaking it straight in half.

Spying a small boat that she assumed was Luffy's, the brunette thrust her hand out and snapped the post it was tied to before throwing the treasure over to it before she landed in the water and it dragged her down to the bottom. "Luffy, I was still in there! What if I had died?!"

Luffy looked over blankly as he retracted his foot and walked on the wreckage over to the boat, "Ah, my bad."

Koala just stared at him for a moment before she let out a snort and burst out laughing, "Zaahahahaha! It's fine, it's fine! Everything worked out in the end."

Luffy grinned back, "Shishishi, sure did!"

"Damn it! Don't you forget this!" Turning, they both saw Crescent Moon Galley sliding down half of the ship as he held on for dear life. "Some day I'll set out to find you, and I'll definitely kill you! _Straw Hat! Ocean wench! Remember this!_"

"That's '_Kaijōsei_' to you!" Koala shouted back with surprising fervor as she swam over to the boat, "I put a lot of time getting my name out there so I wouldn't get some crap epithet, so yo— " the brunette shook her head talking to herself, "Calm down, he's a low-rank money-grubbing pirate, it doesn't matter if he doesn't know who you are..."

Sighing, Luffy turned a hard eye towards Galley, "From the start to the end, you're the one who came and started a fight. Why do I have to remember you; it's a pain." And with that, he put his foot in his gut and launched him through the ship and into the ocean.

—-—-—

"Hey, this is more than what they took from us," one of the villagers spoke up excitedly as they went through the chest and bag of treasure the two had left them.

"Yeah," another replied somewhat confused, "that kid said it wouldn't fit on his boat."

The clover-haired man stared out at the ocean where the two had embarked, fingers to his forehead as he scrunched up his face in thought. "Just who was he, that kid...? He came in on a pirate ship, but he fought the pirates and gave us treasure...?"

Over to the side, Silk sat with her legs swinging over the edge of the dock, her hands resting casually on her sword across her lap. _Thank you for everything Luffy, Koala... Good luck finding One Piece, and... I hope you find whatever you're looking for, Koala, but if it's a friend and nakama you can trust, I think he's closer than you think._ Smiling a bit more, she looked out to the horizon. "So there are some good kinds of pirates out there, too."

—-—-—

Koala sighed with a small smile as she swam on her back, staring up at the sky. "What an exhausting day... No leads, nothing productive but Five Million in the bank..." Pausing, her smile grew a little, "No, not totally fruitless; I finally got to meet Luffy. He certainly is fun to be around, and pretty strong too... Pirate King Monkey D. Luffy, huh... What a beautiful dream. If only I had something tangible and grand like that to grasp on to. I guess I'll know it when I find it..." Sighing again as her smile waned, her eyes wandered higher in the sky with the beginnings of tears.

_I wonder if he'll really wait for me..._ she thought, remembering moments ago when they parted ways.

_"Hey, you should become my nakama (comrade)!"_

_Koala blinked, "What?"_

_Luffy squinted back with a frown, "Or did Ace already get you to join his crew...?"_

_"Wha-No! I haven't joined anybody's crew!" the brunette stammered out, very much out of her zone of understanding. "Why do you want me to join?"_

_Luffy looked at her blankly and said, "I just feel like it," as if it was the most basic compelling reason a human being could ask for._

_Koala just stared at Luffy long and hard before letting out a long sigh. "I appreciate the offer, Luffy, I really do... I mean, just cause I'm good in a fight, I don't really think I have that much to contribute, not to mention how much trouble I usually end up bringing along, and some of my hab—OW!" Koala grabbed her head where Luffy had whacked her with his fist, "Why did you hit me?"_

_"Just felt like it."_

_The martial artist gave him a strong deadpan glare before sighing again. "Anyway, as much as I appreciate it and find it all too flattering, I have things I need to sort out myself, and until then I don't think I can really join a crew, or..."_

_"Eehhhhh, what do you have to do?" Luffy questioned with a squinting pout, "Whoever is getting in your way, all I have to do is beat them up, right?"_

_"NO!" Koala covered her mouth, surprised by the volume she put into the interjection, "I mean... *sigh* It's... It's complicated... I have to set things straight on my own..." Turning back to Luffy, she offered her hand out to him, "Maybe when I get everything worked out, I'll find you and join up, okay?"_

_Slapping the hand, Luffy gave her a grin, "I'll be waiting, Koala. Shishishi!"_

_Smiling back, she gave him a wave, "Until then, Luffy! Say hi to Ace for me if you see him!"_

"Nakama... Hmmm... If he's really waiting, then... Maybe someday. But for now, I have to finish what I started, and that means finding Arlong." Her head drooped a bit, shading her eyes behind her hair. _What he's doing here in East Blue is wrong. He's already hurt so many people just when he sailed into this ocean, and knowing him..._

_You know as much as I do..._ a woman's voice echoed within her head, _everyone expects the Marines to help, but they don't think about helping anyone that really needs it. There are tons of things that need the Marines' attention: people murdered, entire villages destroyed, slavery continues on. And they always fail to do a single thing about so many problems..._

_...I couldn't rely on the World Government before, and I certainly can't now, not when they send their military to reclaim freed slaves for corrupt nobility, or chasing after fairy tales in delusions of grandeur... I just have to keep fighting alone, and with a bit more effort, everything will be the same as before; everything will come back to me... And I can finally laugh with all my heart._

"Nami..." she whispered as if passing the words on the wind, her hand rising palm up to the sun as if holding her message out for the breeze to take them away, "I can only imagine what Arlong put you through... what he's doing to you now... but somehow," she raised her voice as she clenched her fist, her head rising with determination, "I'm going to make things right, even if you don't believe me and keep fighting, stealing, and living on your own. I'll find you a place where you can be free, and laugh to your heart's content... and cry to your heart's content... even if I have to build it myself."

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><p><strong>Excellent excellent. So it begins.<strong>

**This chapter, along with my anticipated 2nd and 3rd, will be delving generally into the ten year gap for Koala, before we get things rolling en masse (not that major things won't be happening though). I'd give you a next-time, but I've already made a subtle hint towards the next bit—kudos to whomever figures it out!**

**Thanks to the friend who beta'd this, keeping me from using too much Japanese on the fly and all that good stuff, to a few other friends who went over it, and everybody who has supported my need to let out the numerous ideas from my head.**

**Questions, Comments, Snide Remarks, Concerns, etc. are appreciated. Pre-empting one, there will probably more detailed line-breaks in the future; in this case, everything happened pretty quickly in a small area, and the flashbacks flowed well into the writings.**

**Hope you enjoyed, and that you'll enjoy the ride!**


	2. Chapter 2: Poking Dragons

Disclaimer: I definitely don't own One Piece. Cause if I did, I definitely would have made sure that all these translators that are illegally scanning up my content for readers in the US and such had their facts straight. It's not "Fishman Karate Substitute Teacher", dammit! Do people not use Japanese dictionaries? The raw subtext underneath Koala clearly says "Shihandai" 師範代, not "Daiyōkyōin" 代用教員! There's a huge difference of implied skill between an Assistant Instructor (in a Dojo) and a "Substitute Teacher" in both English and Japanese.

What's that? I'm okay with people scanning my stuff illegally for the US? Well, they don't get the newest chapters right off the bat, so I do think it's nice that people are interested in keeping up to da...

Oh, right. Not owning One Piece. Never mind.

**OPFan37—Thanks again for the support, and keep on churning out cool stuff! I really like popping in and reading a whole swath of your chapters at once, though it means I don't leave you as many reviews.**

**Fairy of the Friz—Alas, the answers await you at the end of your journey below. Read on and see the truth with your own eyes! (That is, unless you're not going to check up on me because I didn't update soon enough...? DX )**

**Chapter 2: Poking Dragons**

* * *

><p>"YOU BLUNDERING FOOLS! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS REPORT?!" came the angry cry that echoed across the flagship of the Marines' 8th Branch. The use of the word 'ship' would have been a stretch in this case however, considering the norm everywhere but the Grand Line.<p>

With three masts flying the Marine insignia and the large number 8 of their outfit, but without a single cannon opening; an entire fortress structure in the traditional ocean camouflage pattern, rendered useless by the presence of a bright red seven-point roof; and the whole thing bordered with gold railings and giant sea-lion decoration, the massive 'ship' was anything but normal.

Fitting the vessel's abnormal condition was its commanding officer from whom had come the angry shout that had resounded over his entire domain. Nelson Royale was, frankly put, one of the ugliest Marines ever to serve the government both in terms of his bodily appearance and his inner morality, with matching flaws to boot. He was incredibly fat and similarly greedy, bulging chest left shamelessly exposed (his Marine coat only fitting about his back and arms). Possessing the false title of admiral to match his self-importance, he was horrible to his subordinates simply because he could afford to be; money solved all of his problems.

Well, almost all his problems, or else he wouldn't be screaming at the top of his lungs about some woman—or more appropriately a little girl who showed up asking all the right questions.

_A little girl that seems to have vanished into thin air_, was the thought that resonated through the lower-ranking Marines aboard the 8th Branch flagship as their 'Teikoku' (Admiral) verbally abused them. They'd never vocalize their difficulties, though, considering what wrath he might bring down upon them if they did.

Not that he'd kill them. Nelson Royale didn't let anyone leave his service until their funeral rights. But that was just another part of what made serving him so horrible.

"That girl may have been the key to obtaining the Dragon Bones I've searched so long for! Do you have ANY idea of what will happen if you _lose_ her?!" The Marine before him cowered as much as his salute allowed as the lard of a man yelled at him. The seething eyes shaded beneath his deformed blue top hat and the twitching of his thin mustache removed any doubt of his anger. Fortunately the hapless marine's prayers for relief were temporarily answered as Nelson turned to the back and called, "Eric!"

From the shadows behind the archway appeared a man very much dressed in his own style: wearing a grey blazer and pants with lines of maroon, with a striped purple shirt underneath, his hair was gelled heavily into a swirling light purple hook on top of his head. Further distinguishing his dress choices with pearl earrings and a wing-like brooch, he topped it all off with thin futuristic sunglasses that encircled his head almost completely.

"I've been here for awhile, so I understand the situation," Eric pre-empted the commanding officer, hoping to cut to the chase.

"After finally having a lead on the elixir of eternal youth, we can't let it escape from us," the teikoku clarified regardless, "Take the fleet, find her, and capture her at any cost."

"A word if I may," Eric began, "I do not believe searching for women was part of our contract."

"I'll pay whatever's necessary! This is exactly the purpose you are being employed for!" Nelson paused as he grinned maliciously, "Or would you prefer to let our only clue escape? Now, get on with it!"

"Very well. As an order form the great Nelson Royale." Keeping the disdain clear from his voice and posture, the hired mercenary left to join the fleet.

Though it was true that the 'admiral' did pay him for his services, and quite well at that, the money was the icing on the cake as far as Eric was concerned. Living forever could open a vast world of opportunities, putting the admittedly absorbent bonus from Nelson to shame by comparison—though a tidy sum sitting for years with interest never hurt.

_Last the Marines saw that little girl, two older women claiming to be family pulled her away before anyone could take her along or contact the higher-ups,_ Eric went over the information from the report in his head as he walked. _Them being family is likely a quick lie based on their basic description, but that only makes it more worrying—it's possible they also looking to obtain the elixir._

"Why the long face, Eric...?"

The mercenary pulled himself from his thoughts to address the Marine standing in the doorway outside, his long black moustache visible even as his cap shadowed his other features. "Shōsa (Lieutenant Commander)..."

Working so closely under an incarnation of gluttony with nay a hint of a moral compass would drive most serious Marines mad. Lieutenant Commander Hardy made it through the day with a few simple thoughts in mind—namely that he could refuse to do something he didn't want to, and all the things he did every day to protect the men beneath him from the demon above.

But it also helped to find enjoyment wherever he could, and having the chance to rib their resident mercenary (whom he wouldn't trust as far as he could throw) was one of those things that made Hardy smile. "Not too happy about having to go looking for girls, huh?"

"If you're done being facetious, hurry up and prepare the ship," Eric replied as he blew off the jab and walked past the Marine to the deck of the ship, "You act as if you won't be helping hunt for them."

"Oh I'll be right there with you," he reassured in reply, his small smirk never leaving his face, "But you should know that some of the men are starting to think, what with the vehemence and all, that you're not into...that..."

That made the mercenary take pause. "Into...what?"

Hardy's grin grew slightly. "Women."

"What nonsense..."

"And it probably would be," the commanding officer continued, intent on getting a rise out of the oddly dressed man, "were we just talking the little girl from Warship Island; it might even have been if it were just the two who pulled her out. But the fact is, you haven't done anything to prove them wrong since you were hired."

Eric let out a derisive 'pfft' at that, "I have nothing to _prove_ to your men, Shōsa."

"If that's how you feel." Seeing the purple-haired man continue on his way, the Marine threw his parting shot. "Just wanted you to know, in case you wonder later why they've been avoiding you on the ship. And believe me, it's not because they find you intimidating." His smile expanded beyond the bounds of his moustache as he finished, "They just don't swing that way."

"Kama Kama no Kamaitachi (Sickle Sickle Whirlwind Cut)!"

Without warning, Eric flicked his hand back at Hardy, revealing overly long and sharpened fingernails as he made his call. At the same time, his target put a hand out in a stopping motion, not letting his smile down a single centimeter. As a breeze passed over the Marine and blew his cap off, a deep cut suddenly appeared in the structure around him at his neck height.

"Ooh sorry, did I touch a nerve?" the Lieutenant Commander chided as he let his hand down. "My Haki (Willpower) may not be much, but it's enough to stop your little tricks. You'd best not do much else, though. Nelson-teikoku doesn't care too much about lives, but I'm sure he'll be rather displeased if you damage his ship."

Letting the tension release from his body, Eric adjusted his sunglasses with his outstretched hand. "Do you have anything else to say that isn't blatantly obvious or insulting and crude?"

"As a matter of fact," Hardy began, still smiling despite finally getting down to business as he pointed to the wall of the building they'd just departed, "they've finished the sketches of our targets. We had them copied out for all the ships in the fleet so everyone knows who we're looking for. Might not be a bad idea to have a look before we set sail."

Answering with a dismissive 'hmph', Eric walked over to look at the sketches. Drawn in a group, the artist had done their best to highlight some of their major characteristics: the outfit of the child that identified her as a native of Warship Island, the particular necklass that she wore reminiscent of a claw, one of the elder women's short orange hair and the other's long messy brown.

"If that is all, shōsa..." Eric spoke up with disinterest as turned away from Hardy, who had already gone and picked up his cap, prompting the Marine to follow as they walked in silence to prepare their ship. The hired mercenary's thoughts, however, were contrary to his demeanor and certainly not quiet in his head.

_Certainly most of the Marines will focus in on Warship Island, _he went over confidently in his mind, _but if those women intend to help or use the girl they're almost certainly not going there unless they've already set their eyes on the Dragon Bones. And I'm almost positive I've seen at least one of their faces before. If I can make certain who I'm looking for, I'll be a step ahead of the rest of the fleet and that bloated walrus. I will obtain the elixir, and then Eric the Whirlwind will be come invincible, and no silly women are going to stop me._

—-—-—

"ACHOO!"

In another part of the East Blue, the windows at the second story of a bar called _Gold Roger_ suddenly exploded out into the street in a burst of air. The few passerby's ducked under the doorways of the other buildings as shards of glass came down into the street. Looking back up at the floor where the burst had taken place, everyone began pondering what happened when—

"_APIS!_ For the last time, you are _not_ allowed to cook!"

—And with that, all of the questions died away. To the even fewer of townsfolk who didn't know, the others explained the regular problem they'd heard about: a girl who couldn't cook making a mess of the place, and her floor mate who shouted loud enough to break glass.

"So noisy this early in the morning..." pondered a tall white-haired man, two cigars in his mouth trailing smoke over his head as he approached the bar with the heavy step of his leather boots. His thick white and blue jacket with green fur hem (lined with more cigars) hung open, leaving his well-muscled chest visible above his blue jeans. On his back, the kanji "Seigi" for Justice on his jacket could clearly be read from behind a large jitte strapped to his back. "Since when did that old man rent out rooms?"

As he walked towards the entrance, his legs turned white and flowed into smoke over the ground, somehow gathering up the shards of glass as he held his hand over a trash bin. Turning white entirely, the glass lifted through his form and fell out of his hand into the garbage before he reformed in his entirety and walked up to the skull-marked door. Walking inside he saw the bar was closed as always, with one table set up where the owner having a bottle himself. He took a moment to adjust his circle-rimmed glasses before he recognized his current patron.

"What, it's just you... Get out." the old man said dismissively as he took another drink from his glass, his necklace jangling as he threw his head back.

"Now that's no way to treat a regular customer," he replied, cigars still in his mouth as he went over to grab a bottle from behind the bar.

"You drove away all my customers!" the barkeep replied angrily, slamming his cup on the table and shifting his purple knit hat a bit on his head.

The white-haired man shrugged as he popped the cork off the bottle with his thumb, "It's not my fault this is the business you're in." Pausing, he took a long drink from the bottle, cigars held in his hand for the moment. "Uaah, that's good. So, I _hear_ you have some new tenants upstairs, Raoul," he chuckled, shaking the glass bottle to emphasize what he heard in particular.

Raoul finished his drink and stood up, "What's it to you? Not like she's really new, anyways; it's been a few months... I have to make money somehow since you've nearly made me board the place up."

"How's that going to work out if they break all your windows?"

"My _tenant_ is fine," he grumbled as he went back behind the bar, "She makes enough money for the both of us, in fact. It's her _guest_ that makes all the ruckus."

The man at the bar lit his cigars again using a lighter from his pocket. "So what does she do to make money?"

The bartender squinted at his unwanted guest. "What are you, CP2 here to lock us up for tax evasion?"

"I make it my business to know who's staying in my town," he replied.

With a scoff, the old man took the bottle back and corked it. "That's the problem with you Marines these days—some pirates, too—pride. _Your_ town... Pfeh."

"Well if you won't tell me, I'll just have to try and... catch them for a chat later myself." Standing up to go, the Marine turned to leave.

"It's not my place," Raoul called out as he went up the stairs, "to tell the business of those who pay my rent even if I knew it, Smoker. But if you're really going to make an issue of it because of my history..."

Smoker stopped at the doorway without turning around. "I'm listening..."

Raoul shook his head and hung up his hat, revealing his withered hairline. "She catches fish with Sapi for that fish market of his. From what I hear, she makes some excellent finds." As the white-haired man started walking out, he leaned over the railing to shout, "I only know that because I wanted to know where her money comes from and that it's clean, ya hear?"

Pausing as he opened the door, he let out a low "Thanks" before he stepped out and closed the door.

Silence reigned inside the _Gold Roger_ as the owner waited on the stairs for the moment to pass. Finally, after a long sigh he called upstairs, "Hey you two! How about next time you bust all the windows, you don't do it when the Captain from Marine Headquarters is walking down the street!"

From the doorway, a young woman stuck her head out sideways with an apologetic grin on her face, her golden brown hair falling about her face as gravity did its thing. "My bad, Raoul-san. Apis went and cooked again with too much pepper, and I had to make it seem like she blew up the oven to make the windows make sense."

Another head poked out beneath the brunette's, this one adorned by a white pointed hat that was quickly slipping off her dirty blond hair as her brown eyes zeroed in on her senior. "Hey, it's not my fault that you won't let me cook more and get better."

"Yes yes, it's alright..." Raoul placated his tenant and her guest before they actually got some momentum going, and moved on to more serious waters. "So what will you do, Koala?"

"What I usually do," Koala asserted with a grin as she righted herself and stepped out from the wall, adorned in a similarly styled, orange sundress with long golden yellow triangles intermittent along the base coming from the trim. Her hands were tucked into the folds of the dress, where subtle pockets lay hidden beneath the black-belt waist stripe. "I brought Sapi fish yesterday, so going out to catch fish and gather info in a few days and being back within a week is my normal routine anyways, so I'll just head out as usual—minus Apis coming along—and everything will be fine."

Apis' eyes lit up as she leaned upwards towards her host. "You're taking me with you this time?"

"Yes yes, now stop hanging on the doorway before you hit the ground, and go get your stuff together." Not giving her a choice, the brunette grabbed the blond by the shoulders and righted her before turning back to her landlord. "While we're on the subject, I haven't come up with a good lead in a while, and I already ran into the one friend I was keeping my eyes out for. The Grand Line is crazy and all, but it's still smaller than any of the other oceans; I'm still getting used to it."

"So you're moving out then..." Raoul said sadly.

Koala quickly caught on and reassured the old man, "Not right now, though! I'll be back after I sort everything out with Apis here, and..."

Without warning the barkeep looked back up to her with a wide grin as he walked passed the girls. "I'm only messing around, idiot! It's about time you got what you really came here for; goodness knows you've done more than enough for an old-timer like me."

Koala stared for another moment before she matched his grin and picked him up in a swinging hug. "Thank you for everything, Raoul-san!"

"Air... *hack* *cough* Air...!" he wheezed as the martial artist got carried away with her tight squeeze of affection.

"Ah, sorry..." she apologized as she let him go.

Shaking it off, Raoul continued on his way down the hall. "Not like you have to thank me for much anyways. All I did was give you room and board, and you paid for that with your own money."

The brunette shook her head. "Don't be like that; you've done so much. I may have paid for my stay, but you were the one that pointed me in Sapi's direction. And need I remind you of the special clothes I've been wearing?" She gestured with her hands still in the pockets of the skirt. "I had just the one sundress—and not nearly as high-quality—and your old contacts and friends led me to a whole wardrobe of things that I can wear and keep water on me when I need to."

The old man just waved it off. "It's the least I could do, honestly. Despite not really wanting to be a pirate in the first place, you're certainly more driven than most of the up-and-coming little shits these days that put the skull and crossbones on their flag." Turning to her, he gave her a straight look with a small smile as he finished, "It seems pretty silly, really. All the effort the Marines put into hunting down pirates, and for all their troubles they turn out some of the finest pirates of the age."

Koala just grinned back as he walked off to his room. "Like I said, thanks for everything."

—-—-—

(Later that day — Traveling Through East Blue)

"Amazing! We're going so fast!" Apis cried in excitement as she held onto the front edge of the rowboat as it rammed through the golden afternoon waves at high speeds, her long mustard-yellow dress and maroon sash flowing in the wind. Turning back around, she called back, "Are we really going to find Lost Island?"

At the other end, the back wall of the boat had been modified to fold over, allowing Koala to brace herself in and propel the ship herself. It helped that she'd already redirected the current that way first, so it wasn't nearly as difficult as it would have been. "I'm pretty sure I can do you better, but I have to ask your friend first. If he's senile like you said he is, then I want to make sure we're on target before we go."

Apis smiled back. "Okay! Thank you again for everything, Koala! If it weren't for you, I'd b—"

"Oh give it a rest, silly..." the martial artist sighed as she flicked her dripping hair over to Apis with a bit of a kick, getting a good flinch in response. "Pirates are normally the bad guys and Marines are supposed to be the good guys. How were you to know that it was Opposite Day...?"

_(Flashback — A Month Prior)_

"..._and I can finally laugh with all my heart." The orange-haired thief wiped her eyes before any tears could gather in them, putting up a smile that the brunette could see was paper-thin._

_From their first run-in, Koala could tell that Nami was putting up a tough front. It reminded her too much of herself in the past—a courageous effort like her own choice to join the Sun Pirates for sure, but like her own experience she could tell the woman before her was trying to do everything on her own._

_And she could only wonder how long she'd last. "Nami, I—"_

_"Save it," she cut the brunette off, "We don't have time to be arguing about this, we're sti—!" Hearing a door open above, she quieted her breath and Koala did the same as a group of people walked leisurely across the boards over their heads._

_"Man, it's good to finally be on land for a bit..." a man among them spoke up with the sound of him stretching his body. "It sucks working for Nelson-teikoku, but honestly it's worse that our base is a floating Marine ship. My last assignment was pretty bad, but at least reporting in meant time with the ground beneath our feet."_

_"Speak for yourself," another replied grumpily from the other Marine's left. "That fat tub of lard doesn't even have a real Marine rank, and yet we're expected to do all the shit he says. I'm just glad I'm not one of his closer servants or I'd puke from having to see him all the time at _least_."_

_"Oh come on, lighten up for once. It's not like we do anything serious anyways. All he cares about is that myth about the Millennium Dragon anyways..." Slowly the voices and footsteps faded away before the two women below them breathed a sigh of relief._

_Nami spoke up first. "We already cut it close just getting out of that jam by stowing away on one of their ships. Let's just get out of here and we can deal with everything else between us, alright?"_

_Sighing, Koala rustled her hair in her hand. "Alright, alright..." Turning to the side of the ship, Koala took a deep breath and readied her fists._

_"Hey wait, what are you going to—"_

_"Hah!" Letting loose a fist at the wall without making contact, a subtle gust breezed past the two girls before a chunk of the boarding creaked over towards the ocean. As it tipped, Koala stepped forward and pulled it back the other way, holding it in place as if she hadn't busted a hole in the ship as she looked back at the thief. "Shall we?"_

_"You're incorrigible..." Nami sighed in turn as she stepped forward. Smiling back in response, Koala simply slid the wall back inwards upright so they could step around it and hop up the railing._

_Peeking up slowly, the two women could see that the deck was clear of Marines, so for the moment the coast was clear. More importantly, they could see the port wasn't particularly crowded either. Nodding to each other, the two were about to leap into the ocean and make their escape, when they heard some commotion over on the port. To Nami's dismay, the one-time Sun Pirate went back up to observe._

Wait_, the thought came to her, _I don't want to stick around with her right now anyways! I'll just slip away an—_Ack!_

"_Will you stop hanging around and come on?" Koala asked obliviously as she pulled Nami up by the collar of her shirt with her bare toes. Flipping over the bulwark herself, she made sure the orange-haired woman landed safely before she continued. "It sounds like those Marines are harassing someone."_

_"And...?" By the time she turned to ask, Koala had already moved up to sneak a peak from behind the mast, motioning to her to come as if it were a no-brainer. Sighing as she told herself that if she didn't go over there her martial artist companion would make a scene going after her, deep down the brunette was slowly wearing down the barriers that she'd worked eight years solidifying._

_It helped Nami justify her actions in the moment that there was, in fact, someone being harassed by the Marines, though._

—-—-—

_"Look, little girl, just come on board the ship," one of the Marines tried to placate a young girl in a bright mustard yellow dress and tall pointed hat, "and we can call the teikoku and get you some information on those Millennium Dragons you're asking about."_

_"Why can't you just tell me?" the girl replied loudly, growing more and more uncomfortable with the way the rest of the Marines had her surrounded. "You don't really know, do you!"_

_Before anyone could respond, a pair of arms slid right between two of them and securely picked her up the girl. Parting the group in half, the arms revealed themselves to be attached to a young brunette teen in a blue sundress who quickly deposited the younger female behind her before turning to address the men before her._

_"My apologies," she began with a deep bow to try and hide her face as much as possible, "I've been telling our little one here stories about dragons and mythical creatures for quite some time. I never meant for her curiosity to become a bother to others."_

_"H-hey, I'm not—!" Before the child could unknowingly ruin her own rescue attempt, an orange-haired teenager quickly jumped in while the Marines were focused in on her brunette accomplice and snatched the mustard-dressed girl up, pulling her into the alley from whence she came with a hand on the girl's mouth and a frown on her face._

_Before they could get far, however, the elder of the two had to let the younger loose when she made to bite right into her hand. Instead, the dirty blond went straight into the stone bricks of the alley they'd stopped in, causing her to slump down to the ground gripping the growing bruise on her forehead._

_"Sorry about grabbing you at the mouth, you were about to blow our cover trying to get you out of there," her 'kidnapper' apologized as she shook the offending hand off, "Are you alright?"_

_Giving the woman a glare back, she replied warily, "Fine. Why did you pull me from those Marines? I need to find out where the Dragon's Nest is!"_

_Nami sighed at the girl's one-track mind. "Even if they had the information you want, they're more interested in what _you_ know. They probably think you have a pet Millennium Dragon or somethi—"_

_"W-w-w-w-w-w-what are you talking about?" the girl stammered out as she backed into the wall sweating profusely, "I-I-I-!"_

_The orange-haired teen just gave the little girl a deadpan stare that made her very uncomfortable, which slowly widened into one of shock—to the child's dismay. "You have a pet Millenni—!?"_

_"Ryu-ji isn't a pet! I mean—!" Before she could freak out anymore and attract the Marines' attention, Nami covered her mouth to cut her off._

_"Stop. I'm not trying to do anything to you, or to Ryu-ji." _Hell, _she thought to herself_, I probably wouldn't even have helped if it weren't for Koala. _"But those soldiers back there? They work for someone who wants to find a Millennium Dragon so they can take its bone marrow or something and gain eternal life. Why do you think they wanted to take you onboard?" Seeing that the girl understood, she pulled her hand from her mouth. "What's you name?"_

_"When someone asks for your name, you're supposed to give your own..."_

_"True enough. My name is Nami."_

_"Apis."_

_(End Flashback)_

"And don't start the self-pity thing about you and Nami running off separate ways before I could find you," Koala interjected quickly, breaking Apis from her own reminiscing. "You didn't know she was trying to run from me—heck, you hadn't even properly met me yet." She moved to object, but the martial artist wasn't finished. "More importantly, she'd been dodging me left and right then and she hasn't stopped since, and she's honestly damn good at it. I had a better chance of finding you first and you know it; besides, I couldn't leave you in the lurch, so that's that."

Honestly, Koala was getting a bit tired of her houseguest from Warship Island's apologetic nature. There were worse traits to have as a person, sure, but she _really_ went out of her way to make sure the scales were balanced in some way. The breakfast incident earlier this morning was a perfect example on the other half of the spectrum, but comparing it to the verbal apologies was equivalent to comparing the challenges of learning to ride a horse versus beating a dead one: the former still was practical in some form to someone.

Apologizing again wasn't going to make the horse any more or less dead, anyways.

Thankfully Apis relented with a long sigh into her chest. Looking up over her companion's tall hat, the brunette slowed down her kicking and said more quietly, "Less darkeners, more binoculars. Your home is in sight and it's guarded by the 8th Division; I need a safe place to sneak us in, so find an opening in the armada or make one."

Turning back around, the young girl's eyes widened as she looked upon the island of her birth, the towering form of the mountains more majestic a warship than any of the Marine vessels strewn about it in the slowly darkening sky. "AH! R-right, on it!" Apis jumped as she fumbled with the bifocal spyglass while her senior let go of the boat and dove under the waves to halt the temporary current she'd pulled to get them there so quickly.

Swimming back over to their vessel and getting on board, Koala took a better look at the numbers they were facing herself. _Something doesn't feel right..._ she thought to herself in growing suspicion,_ There's almost too few Marine vessels out there, and I'd have been able to tell if they had a bunch hidden on the other side from the water; At least then I'd know we'd be walking into a trap. But this—_

"I think we're good!"

Shaking away her worries, the brunette turned her focus back to her lookout, who now had three green birds on her shoulders. "Yeah? What do you have?"

Apis pointed at the leftmost vessel with a devious smile. "One of the lookouts on that ship is cleaning their nails and the other's sleeping on the mast, and these guys here are willing to give him something they'll _really_ need to go clean up."

"Good to know that Devil's Fruit can make itself useful now and again," Koala replied with a grin, "A lot of what you chat up from animals with the Hiso Hiso no Mi (Whisper Whisper Fruit) is hit and miss." Taking back the binoculars, she confirmed what had already been stated before taking a quiet breath out as she cleared her thoughs.

_Whatever this feeling means, I'll just have to handle it when it comes to pass,_ she decided as she stored the bifocals under the rear flap and pulled out something out before sliding part of it down to seal them in a compartment of sorts. _There's point in letting Apis see me sweat over nothing anyways._ "Well then, shall we make our entrance?"

—-—-—

Stepping out onto the deck of the ship he was currently staying on, Eric took his time as he crossed over to the lifeboats, where one was already in the water awaiting him. One of the reasons he'd managed to stay in relatively good grace with the other Marines was his willingness to not get in their way; in this particular case, he'd do his own rounds personally on Warship Island before sleeping at a different ship stationed there.

They couldn't have known that such was more for his own sake—keeping himself from killing stupid cannon fodder and brining Hardy-shōsa down upon him, and to continue training his skills in private—but who was he to change their minds of 'Eric the Whirlwind'?

Not that the hired assassin thought that the resident Lieutenant Commander was really a threat. Certainly he'd developed a fair level of Haki with which he could defend some of his attacks for a while, but Eric was too fast for him to land a hit back.

A fight between them would only be a battle of attrition; more than likely that gave plenty of time for Hardy's fat commanding officer to call him off or else, and Eric knew who between them was more in favor with him.

As he prepared to hop over the bulwark and get a move on, he paused at the sound of loud cursing above him. Looking up towards the sails, the source was two lookouts in the crow's nest. "What's wrong?" Eric called up to the Marines, getting them to stop cursing and start climbing down.

"Sorry, no disturbance out there," one of them apologized as they climbed, though his monotone gave the impression that he didn't really care either way, "a couple of birds just nailed us."

"Oi, why'd you tell him?" the other yelled hotly at the first in a clearly feminine voice.

The first Marine sighed back. "He's going to see it either way, what's wrong with being honest?"

"And let everyone in the division know we got shat on?" she replied, "Like hell!"

"Come on, Eric won't tell everybody—not everyone's a gossip waypoint like you." Finally getting off the mast, he gave the mercenary a lazy stare. "It's not worth getting her riled up, trust me."

Eric let the silence go by for a moment before he responded with a small smirk, "I won't make any promises."

"Troublesome..." the male lookout sighed as he started walking over to the cabins. "I probably wouldn't have been hit if she hadn't flipped and woke me up from my nap..."

Before he could get to the door, a larger Marine came running out. "Eric, uh, sir... There's a call on the Den Den Mushi for you from the base in Loguetown. Apparently they found what you were looking for...?"

"Really now...?" Eric's smirk grew into a grin as he looked over towards Warship Island. "Tell them the check's already in the mail, so to speak." _If they don't get _smoked_ out first,_ the self-styled assassin thought, chuckling out loud at his own internal joke as he leapt over the railing to his rowboat.

—-—-—

At the same time on the other side of the Marine warship, the underside of a wooden boat slowly came into view beneath the waves of the coast. Before it reached the shore, there was a ripple on the surface as a cloud of sand suddenly spread through the water around it. From the waves Koala burst out swiftly, seemingly unimpeded by the water as she ran with haste for the cover of the forest with Apis partially soaked in tow under her arm.

"Are you sure the boat will be fine?" the Warship Island native asked tiredly, clutching a small sack to her chest as if her life depended on it as the brunette bounded across the island of her upbringing.

Koala scoffed jokingly as she paused and set the young girl down. She now wore a black sundress of the same style as her others with a shorter skirt that cut off at her knees and a white 'belt', which she gestured to as she spoke. "I may have wanted more of these dresses, but it was worth spending most of my savings back in the day on that boat. She'll hold up fine. Now hold onto your hat and my bag and try not to flinch."

Doing so, Apis watched as the martial artist clapped her hands together and slowly spread them apart. She could the water that drenched the fabric of her wears shift slowly with her motion. Suddenly Koala launched both palms forward, and with them the water came flying out from her clothes and hair.

"Well? Lead the way," she spoke up, gesturing Apis towards the forest ahead with a mock bow.

Returning the gesture seriously with a nod of the head before adjusting her hat, the blond moved purposefully into the foliage with a burst of energy. Koala followed behind as covertly as she could and kept her senses wary for anyone tailing them or in their path as they approached the mountain. Much to her consternation she couldn't pick up on anyone threatening in the vicinity, despite her growing paranoia at the ease of their 'infiltration'—particularly the nagging feeling that they were being watched.

It was a stressful half-hour of distrustful searching before they arrived at their destination—a cave opening into the mountain. As the cave opened up between giant stalagmite formations, she could make out the large shadow of something in the back of the cave. Coming closer, the dark of the cave gave way to a greying green plume of feathers as a glinting gold eye stared out at them.

"Ryu-ji!" Apis called out as she ran over, leaving Koala to her moment of awe.

"This is... a Sennenryū (Millennium Dragon)..." Lying on the cave floor, the dragon gave snort as its friend hugged it around the front of its snout. _For a thousand-year-old dragon, he doesn't look that old at all._ The creature actually _did_ seem old in appearance—his long beard and balding crown certainly pointed to that—but somehow Koala had been expecting it to be even older. _Maybe it's the feathers; I was honestly expecting scales anyways, so that could be it._

The awe wore off rather quickly, though. You couldn't travel backwards through the Grand Line and _not_ see some weird stuff along the way. It also helped that she knew what she was walking in on at the start by way of her introduction to Apis, who wasn't exactly the best secret-keeper; she didn't appreciate the humor of a good surprise either.

Walking up to the dragon, Koala walked up and offered her hand to the beast's nostrils. "Nice to meet you, Ryu-ji. My name is Koala. Apis told me you're looking for an island sunken into the ocean, right? I think I might be able to help you with that."

"Koala's pretty amazing!" Apis piped up, "She can do all kinds of things with water and air, like a mermaid or something! If anybody can find the Dragon's Nest, she probably can!"

The martial artist blushed under the praise as she kneeled down to look the dragon in the eye. _Well, close enough to the mark._ "I don't think it's quite as amazing as Apis hypes it up to be, but my Fishman Karate certainly is nothing to laugh at. If this Lost Island is really going to rise again soon like she says you believe, I reckon there will be some kind of shift in the ocean floor that I can sense. So what do you say?"

After a pregnant pause, Apis grinned and turned to Koala. "Ryu-ji says it's okay to befriend you, since he can tell you're a good person."

Smiling back at her, Koala stood up to stretch. "Great! In that case I'll go take a dip and get us started. Better at night when I'll be less likely to be spotted."

"Why would you try and sense anything from here?" Apis questioned skeptically.

"We need to start somewhere, don't we?" the brunette chided. "Besides, Warship Island is the center of the legend anyways, so it couldn't have been that far. You guys aren't much for seafaring anyways, from what I could tell."

"R-right..."

Koala let the grin slide off her face as she started walking back out of the cave. "The real problem will be getting the Marines out of the way when Ryu-ji needs to get there. But for now, just stay hidden here with him until I come back." Looking back, she gave the beast a flat look. "He can protect you and himself long enough for me to come back if trouble comes knocking, right?"

Apis nodded out of habit. _Be safe too, Koala_, _I... _her thoughts trailed off, answered only by the sound of the martial artist's footsteps through the cave. Without moving the rest of his body, Ryu-ji lifted his wing and swiftly but gently slid the native girl into the folds of his feathers before curling away from the entrance.

—-—-—

Stepping outside, Koala looked around for a moment with a serious look on her face. _That way, huh...? Well, no time like the present._

Without warning she leapt in a seemingly random direction away from the coast, stopping at a break in the foliage where a river passed shallowly through the forest. She kneeled down in the river with care, settling into a comfortable seiza position with her legs tucked beneath her as she closed her eyes and audibly inhaled. In an instant, she let out all the air from her lungs, creating a concentrated burst of air that dispersed between the trees that sent a whole flock of green birds into the air.

A light smile graced her features for a moment before she began breathing deeply at a more normal pace. Moments passed in serene silence as the martial artist meditated patiently in the river, the flow passing her by without pause despite her oddly absorbent dress. Eventually she let out a sigh as she finished and opened her eyes to look at the slowly gathering stars beyond the forest.

_Mother... How are you getting along...?_ Koala thought as she gazed up high, as if the glittering cosmos would transmit her will across space and time. _I've been doing well for myself, though I suppose you wouldn't agree; I can only hope you don't think too badly of me, winding up with a bounty on my head. I'd say it wasn't my fault—and I'd be telling the truth—but recently I've been trying to increase it on purpose, so it rings false in my head._

_Speaking of bounties, I met Ace's brother Luffy recently! They're so different in a lot of ways, and yet there's so much that is the same about them. Luffy's certainly not as much of a thinker, but they've both got that headstrong manner about them, and..._ Pausing, as if considering whether to say something or withhold it, she let out a sigh._ ...for some reason, it feels like they can do whatever they set their minds to._

_I know you never meant for it to be this way, but I've always taken your words to heart. Perhaps we still don't agree on Fishmen, but it's true that I was still a child back then—naïve, hopeful, happy with the word. Traveling around the world, I've seen so many people entrapped in the misery of how the world is. And you know what? It makes me feel like it's a miracle to have been born, and to sit here now as I am. I've come to think that...maybe the world needs more children._

The brunette snorted out loud with a small, short-lived smile. _That probably doesn't make sense, does it? I guess... There's so much suffering in the world, so why should we add to it? Sure, things aren't always the best they could be, but they definitely aren't the worst either. I'm fortunate enough to be living a fairly decent life, I shouldn't squander it moping around about yesterday instead of building a better tomorrow._

_That's the kinda feeling I get from Ace and Luffy too. Ace said that they were searching for freedom, in becoming pirates. Believe me, piracy certainly doesn't always feel that 'free' to me; it makes me wonder what happened to them to make them think this way. They're like me: we take the hardships that we've lived through and move forward._

_...The real challenge is moving forward, I suppose..._ Koala thought as she closed her eyes again. _Luffy asked me... he wanted me to be one of his nakama... It's gratifying, confusing, makes me feel weightless, and a whole other sea of emotions churning inside. We'd only just met, and yet I almost took him up on it..._

_But part of me was just longing for companionship, not for his companionship. I've made a lot of friends in my travels, but friends come and go as I move around the ocean. And it makes me feel so alone sometimes... His offer was like a dream come true in so many ways, but that's part of the problem: I'd be doing it for myself, not for him. It would feel dishonest, agreeing only just because I'm so starved for something I've been missing for so long..._

_Family..._

_I—_ Without opening her eyes, the martial artist's hand shot out in an instant as the breeze shifted. Before her, a small sonic boom occurred as the wind sent water flying about. Behind her, two trees at her sides slowly slid off of their trunks and fell, sliced cleanly as if with a bladed weapon. "Finally come out to play, have you?"

"I could say the same to you..." Another tree in front of her slid off to the ground, revealing a man in a suit with his purple hair slicked up into a spiral hook above his head, teeth from his open smirk flashing in the shadows of the forest.

Koala said nothing for a moment as she opened her eyes and stared at his strange appearance. "You know, when I was looking at that ship from afar, I thought I was just imagining things for a second. I didn't know the Marines hired okama part-time."

His smirk falling into a closed frown was the only sign that the man had taken offense as he continued to talk. "Oh, make no mistake, I hold no care for the Marines. As it stands our interests merely align, but I don't intend for them to share in my reward."

Dark-blue eyes narrowed. "The Ryūkotsu (Dragon Bones), huh..."

"You catch on fast," he said as the grin returned full-force. "In that case, I shouldn't need to explain myself. Hand over the girl and I won't reveal your whereabouts to the Marines. Better yet, if you lead me to a Sennenryū, I don't see why we cannot share this fortune."

"...and I should trust you even though you're betraying the Marines because...?" Koala deadpanned. She understood quite well that he was trying to entice her with immortality, but she wouldn't buy a ticket for that train of thought when she couldn't trust the conductor—no matter where it was going.

The hired mercenary replied with a derisive snort. "As if the Marines wouldn't do the same to me when we reached the end of our agreement. The only difference between bounty hunters and bounty heads is that bounty hunters still have use to the government; turning in bounty heads helps them take out the trash without lifting a finger and keep an eye on the strength of the one taking them out. Pirate Hunter Zoro, Jean the Bandit, even myself, Eric the Whirlwind... we're hunters today, but there's no guarantee we won't be hunted tomorrow."

"And the same goes for pirates as well," Eric continued as he adjusted the sunglasses still over his eyes despite the dark hour. "Gain enough power as a pirate, and the Marines could make you one of the Shichibukai (Seven Warlords of the Sea). Pathetic... The whole system is broken, but it has its uses."

Koala held her stoic expression. "Well, I suppose we can agree on the corruption of the World Government. But that doesn't change the fact that you aren't making yourself look more trustworthy—only those you deal with less so." Sighing, the martial artist rose from the river. "And even if you were, I'm afraid I've become quite fond of the girl you're intent on targeting."

Eric's smile faltered for a moment. "Of course she is welcome to the elixir as well. The Marines may not have agreed with such, but it seems a light compensation compared to the gai—"

"That's _enough!_" With the brunette's outburst came a wave of pressurized air that knocked back the felled trees a good 30 feet, save for their collisions with their fellows. Her dark eyes—seemingly pitch black—bored into the self-styled man, who barely managed to not flinch at the interjection. "Elixir this, immortality that... I don't give a _damn_ about living forever!"

That got Eric rilled up. "_Liar!_ There's no human that doesn't fear death! And for us who've eaten Devil's Frui—"

"I said that's _**enough.**_" Despite coming out as almost a whisper, the intense anger was palpable in Koala's words as she stepped forward towards him, her eyes shadowed by her hair that was slowly spreading out from her head as if blown out by a gust from below. "Let me tell you two pieces of information... First: I have not consumed a Devil's Fruit."

"What...!?" _She definitely threw something out instead of blocking me with Haki, so how—_

"Second..." Looking up, her eyes locked on to his through shaded glass with a fury barely withheld. "I grew up and became who I am today in the _absence_ of humans."

* * *

><p><span>Omake: Troublesome Ideas<span>

"Tell them the check's already in the mail, so to speak." The self-styled assassin chuckled out loud and he leapt over the railing to his rowboat.

"Ah, he just left..." the larger Marine commented flatly.

The female member of the trio let out a 'hmph' as she put her hands to her hips. "What was that all about...?"

"Do you really want to know?" the lazier one returned, adjusting the ponytail of black hair coming through the back of his cap. "Whatever it is will surely be something troublesome, coming from an assassin-type like that."

"You aren't even the least bit interested in what he's off doing?" she leaned in with her head tilted and her eyes squinting.

"Interest and action are two different things," he shrugged her off in response. "Of course it's very suspicious, but we don't have to do anything out of the ordinary to do something about it."

"You lazy bum," she shouted as she whacked him with her cap, revealing her blond locks, "you just wanna nap and waste time!"

"Hey don't raise your voice too loud," the heavy-set Marine interjected with a calming hand motion, "Everyone's resting."

"Weren't you listening?" the black-haired man sighed as he leaned up against the side of the bulwark, "I said anything _out of the ordinary_. There's still something quite ordinary we can do. Right?" He questioned, giving his male compatriot a lazily pointed stare.

"Hmm? Now that you mention it..." he muttered in remembrance before replying, "I do have to report to Hardy-Shōsa anyways..."

"See? Problem out of our hands."

The female of their trio shook her head. "What kind of Marine are you trying to be, passing on responsibility like that?"

As if reciting a mantra, the lazy Marine replied, "A average Marine with an average salary... Married to a regular girl who isn't too ugly and not too pretty. Have two children, first a girl, then a boy. Retire after my daughter is married and my son becomes a successful Marine—or whatever they want to do—and spend the rest of my life playing shōgi or Go. Then die of old age before my wife."

"How you became a Jun'i (Warrant Officer) before us, I'll never understand..." she let out with a sigh.

"Either way, passing responsibility around is all the rage with the higher-ups these days. At least I'm doing it because I think Hardy-Shōsa can handle it better than we can," the two Warrant Officer's eyes met "Or do you think we can stand up to Eric on our own?"

"Hey," their third compatriot and Jun'i interjected, "we may not be able to handle him today, but one day all three of us will get stronger and fight for justice."

"Yeah!" the blond exclaimed excitedly. "Maybe one day we'll each become Taishō (Admiral)! Wouldn't that be cool? We could be... Ah! You could be Chayacho (Brown Boar), you'd be Kuroroku (Black Deer), and I'd be the beautiful Kinkochō (Gold Butterfly)!"

"Troublesome..." the black-haired Marine sighed as he slid down to the ground. "Who wants to work that hard...? Besides, he's way gentler than you, so he'd be better as Chakochō (Brown Butterfly). You could stick with Kinino (Gold Pig) or something. I'd prefer Shiroshika (White Deer) like the clou—!"

"Are you calling me a pig?!" She cried out in anger before turning on their third member, who had pulled a bag of chips from nowhere and was already halfway done. "And quit snacking! How are you ever going to get strong if you keep stuffing yourself like that?"

"Haha, maybe we'll make it to Admiral rank," the laziest of the three chuckled from the deck, "but you'll probably be dragging us kicking and screaming all the way."

The female Jun'i let her head hang in depression. "Guys..."

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry it's been so long everybody! Those of you that checked my profile recently know this already, but I've had a few chapters sitting done awaiting a complete look-over by my beta. I was originally planning on burning through them starting next week (after Finals for my beta and I), but when I remembered how many important birthdays I've missed this month alone I figured it was time to bite the bullet (Luffy and Arlong in the same month, plus Chew on the 23rd. Not to mention Kaido's, which has more significance for the recent manga).<strong>

**So at the cost of not being fully beta'd yet—with the promise to update when it has been—I give you not one, but TWO new chapters of Kaijōsei! As it turns out, these two combine to make what I'd originally planned as "Chapter 2" when I mentioned the upcoming chapters last time. Due to past experience trying to chug out chapters just to see, I didn't anticipate how big the chapter would become and had to split it. Hope that doesn't dilute the enjoyment!**

**If I'm still doing a good job, then by all means, read on! If I've failed your expectations, then I offer my apologies and hope you find other good things to read, but encourage to leave a review and let me know what you think I could improve upon.**

**Well, what are you waiting for? By the time you finish reading this, I ought to have put up that Chapter 3 by now. Have a good day~!**


	3. Chapter 3: Exceeding Expectations

Zrzeczenie się: Podziękowania dla wszystkich polskich czytelników, którzy czytają Kaijōsei w lutym bardziej niż w jakimkolwiek innym kraju! Nawet połączone, tylko równa twój widok liczyć...

Umm... I mean...

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece...?

_"__Two people speaking at the same time__"_

**Chapter 3: Exceeding Expectations**

* * *

><p>Contrary to what the top brass would have the general populace believe, the Marines were anything but a united front. When the chips were down and shit hit the fan, they banded together in an instant and worked well against adversity. But once the fight was won, you could have dozens of different opinions on where to go from there.<p>

Once you reached a certain rank in the hierarchy, a recruit was bound to have some kind of jurisdiction—often unchecked or unchallenged—so the organization as a whole supported the growth of individual ideas of morality. While this provides flexibility in the face of the tides of time, in the short term it meant that there were too many cooks in the kitchen trying to make delicious 'Justice': it's hard for them to agree what is best in any quality, and the final dish is often unpleasing to the customer.

And if you were real unlucky, things blew back up in your face while you were cooking, as one former Admiral could attest to.

Yet for all the problems that arise, it could not be denied that the Marines remained strong. The current line-up of Admirals didn't have anywhere near matching ideals of Justice, yet when it came down to it they got the job done and kept things going. And so the same would continue with all the recruits, even as they bore witness to the ongoing battles of idealism within.

At least Lieutenant Commander Hardy knew without a doubt he was the better.

Hardy caught on quickly that if he got transferred elsewhere his men would suffer. Of the already scarce number of men that might replace him, none would provide an effective protection from the monster of a man that led the division. As the Marines protected the people, Hardy believed someone had to be able to protect the Marines, and in the face of the threat of Nelson he found himself the only man capable of the job.

Not that the higher-ups agreed with him, of course; he'd already been offered plenty of promotions. But as Hardy continued to grow in strength and gained recognition, eventually they had to give him advancements that didn't come attached with a transfer; with some of the skills he'd accumulated, it'd almost be demoralizing for him to be such a low rank.

The rank of Lieutenant Commander was far more impressive when one realized how he obtained it—denying a promotion is really only easy for a Vice-Admiral after all—and what it implied in terms of his strength.

But Hardy-Shōsa was not an egotistical man, and knew where he stood. Despite attaining the rank of shōsa he refused the preferred dress suit attire fitting his station, continuing to wear the traditional uniform beneath his coat. With all those offered positions, he was never once offered the rank of Vice-Admiral. Whether it was simply because they realized he wouldn't leave his men for Marineford, or that his strength was not yet up to par didn't matter. What mattered to him was that he had further to go, if he was ever to take down Nelson Royale.

The higher rank he attained, the more clout he could wield against the teikoku in hopes of seeing him removed from command, and the more access he might have to discover how the man received the pseudo-Admiral title in the first place. Something about the greedy glutton had always smelled of corruption from up above, and Hardy had never been fool enough to think the Marines were infallible.

All that said, the Lieutenant Commander was not adverse to a quicker, less straightforward end to the Nelson's reign, so long as it didn't involve hurting his men. Fun as taunting Eric may have been, Hardy knew from the get-go that the motives of 'The Whirlwind' were suspect at best; a blunder on Nelson's hands from a rogue agent he funded could easily turn the tides in his favor, especially on the quest for immortality that the tub of lard was so fond of.

As mad as he'd get, it was more liable to get others watching over him to be quite a bit more put out at loosing the chance to live forever. With any luck, his rank might be stripped away and the plight of the 8th Division would end at last.

So, naturally, he kept a few extra Marines that he knew could take care of themselves out and about to keep an eye on Eric's activities. One in particular—with his lazy attitude and general lack of threatening appearance—shot the breeze with the hired gun when he could to get him to let his guard down around him, who not only managed to succeed at that along with his two friends, but also just reported in about a rather suspicious call on the Den Den Mushi that got him to head out to the island.

_If what Smoker-Taisa (Captain) found out is true, I'll have to recommend those three for promotion_, Hardy thought with a smile as he stepped out of the communications room. _Even if we're not sure whom he was keeping tabs on or if they were up to something illegal, the fact of the matter is that Eric bribed Marines to spy on someone and keep the information secret. That ought to be good enough with the White Chaser pissed off at him too._

Walking out to the deck, his grin grew as he looked out to Warship Island. _I don't even have to do a lot of dirty work, either. Things are finally going my way—_

*BOOM*

—_and I had to open my big, fat mouth..._ he finished mentally as a cloud of debris burst out near the base of the island's mountain formation. _That was big enough for all three ships to see; one of them is bound to report to Nelson. Damn!_

"Hardy-Shōsa, your orders?"

_Even in getting yourself caught, you have to make everything a pain..._ "Gather a squad of men with rifles and move silently into the woods. If you get a clear shot on any party in that fight, take it." And with that, he turned back towards the communications room. _Maybe I can make Smoker-Taisa get this thing over with _tonight_..._

—-—-—

(Meanwhile — Warship Island)

*BOOM*

For a time, the dust simply continued to erupt until a gust of wind abruptly split the pall in two. The two stood in roughly the same places as if nothing had taken place, but around them the terrain was now flattened and brown. As the nearby river began to flow again, spreading about the rough circle of barren dirt, Koala shifted into a forward stance, her forward hand outstretched and the palm upward with her other palm directed inward to the first's elbow.

_He blocked my strike in midair somehow, _she pondered._ And here I thought those nails meant he was going to get in close._ Grinning, she cracked her neck as she amended her thoughts. _This might be more fun though, considering the opening draw; I almost wish I'd brought Umizoui for this._

Eric, on the other hand, kept his body and expression as neutral as possible as he analyzed their initial clash. _For a martial artist of some kind, her build had led me to underestimate her skills; even for a low-level slash, to counter it in mid-flight reveals she's not all talk._ "It seems I'd best not underestimate your abilities, woman," he finished aloud before shrugging as he shook his head, "but I'm afraid that—" "You're next phrase will be..."

_"__I, Eric the Wirlwind, will not be so easy to defeat either..._ right?"

"Ah?"

The brunette simply widened her smirk at him with a thin barring of teeth as she pointed at him lazily. "And after that: 'How did you know what I was going to say?' you'll say."

"How did you know what I was going to sa—**AH?!**" the hired gun balked in surprise at having his words read before he said them. "Shut your damn mouth! Kama Kama no Kamaitachi!" Swinging his nailed hand forward with his index and middle fingers extended, the air itself was cut as the slicing attack flew towards her, only to suddenly disperse before it made much headway as she jabbed her finger forward slightly. "What?"

Koala just flashed more teeth and leaned a bit closer as she wiggled her extended finger tauntingly. "I know the thought processes of arrogant bounty hunters like the back of my hand. A little prediction and prodding and I got to see your little technique in isolated action. For such a subtle ability, calling out your Devil's Fruit seems like such a waste of talent, Weasel-san."

Eric simply scoffed in return. "And what would you know, since you supposedly haven't consumed a fruit?"

"I know not to give your opponent valuable information on your skills, like the name of your Devil's Fruit," she shot back, the anger returning to her voice as she continued. "I get that it's kinda common these days, but that doesn't make it smart. But I digress; the fact of the matter is that I now understand how your ability works."

"Ha! And you preach to me of my arrogance? What a foolish bluff." he retorted as he brought his straightened fingers to his face. "No one knows the inner workings of Devil's Fruit's effects on a person, yet here you claim—"

"Wrong," Koala cut him off as she straightened herself, her index finger still directed towards the object of her current ire. "You over-exaggerate the meaning of my words, Whirlwind; I mean to say that I know how you produce blades of wind."

"And if you know how, you can stop it, right? We'll see about that." _Even as I say that, _Eric thought, _she has already stopped Kamaitachi twice—once before she supposedly understood how it works. I'd better step it up._ "Kama Kama no..." Eric paused as he whispered something, shaking his fingers before his face. "...Tsumujikaze! (Sickle Sickle Whirlwind!)" Launching his hands out repeatedly, multiple of blades of wind shimmered faintly in the air as they flew towards her.

_He's taking me more seriously, I suppose... _the martial artist thought. _But not enough!_ Bringing her hands towards her chest, she ran forward with a burst of speed and effortlessly slid between the blades of wind before running right up to the mercenary.

_So fast!_ Eric barely managed to react in time to deflect a punch aimed straight for his face with the side of his arm. Trying to counter with another blade of wind down the offending appendage, his attack hit nothing but air as his opponent simply rolled with the momentum and slid to the side with her other arm ready to elbow him in the nose.

Leaning back with surprising flexibility, he caught himself with his hands and made to push off into a kick to her jaw, only for her to twist off to the side and dodge the attack, leaving him to catch himself on the side of a tree with his arm holding onto a branch for stability.

_Both of those strikes should have still hit him,_ Koala analyzed as she got back into her stance, _It seems his ability is cutting through the air pressure of my attacks by itself. It doesn't seem like he noticed; he'd be bragging it up right now, otherwise._ "You see, 'stop' wasn't exactly the word I had in mind," she called up with a smirk as she prepared her taunt, "but if by stop then you mean 'never get hit by it again', then I can get behind that."

"That's enough out of you," Eric responded with surprising calm, adjusting his grip to the tree, "Until I'm torturing the information on the Ryūkotsu from you, there's no point in listening to your useless babble."

The brunette blinked. "Huh, I guess arrogance has some upsides after all."

"Kama Kama no Kamaitachi!" Eric launched another blade of wind at her, only for her to extend her index finger again and jab it forward, ending the strike. _How is she doing that? Could she be bluffing about not being a De—?!_ At the last second, he sensed the attack coming and leapt from the tree as the martial artist stabbed her entire hand into the tree where he'd been hanging.

"Is it really okay to space out like that?" she chided as she whipped her hand back out of the tree, causing the upper half to come unhinged and fall to the ground. To his further surprise, she seemed able to effortlessly stand straight on the tree parallel to the ground. "What? Do I have some bark on my face?"

_That tears it; she _has_ to have some kind of ability,_ he assured himself as he drew a hand back to his face and shook it. _Tricky, but it won't get you anywhere._ "Shushushu... Kama Kama no Tsumujikaze!" Once again, multiple wind slashes approached her with frightening speed, some now long enough to slice up the ground with their approach to reveal a larger number than before.

Smirking, Koala jumped off the tree into a backflip high above the slashes as she raised her hands from her sides over her head. In an instant, she brought her hands down and with them she came crashing down to the ground, the cutting attack silenced a moment before she herself landed with a hard impact that obscured her figure in another cloud of dust.

_She's still stopping my attacks from a distance! _Eric sweated in mind and body as he tried to discern her form. _What ability can halt my attacks without any indication?_

"It really is getting on my nerves, your ability..." Her voice echoed from the billowing debris.

"Heh, are my attacks becoming troublesome to dodge? I haven't even gone full out yet, so why don't you save yourself the troubl—Hrk!" The mercenary keeled over as a sudden impact to his sternum left him gripping his chest, unintentionally cutting up his suit with his abnormally long nails. "Y-you wench...!"

In the same instant, a burst of debris had shot out from the billows, only for it to split away to reveal Koala with her hair shadowing her eyes and her arm outstretched, index finger pointed straight at where he'd felt the brunt of the force. "No... Even your Devil's Fruit defending you from the brunt of my attacks can be avoided like so. And despite your unintentional insult earlier, it really isn't sticking in my mind. No, it's _you_ that's getting on my nerves, Eric the Whirlwind..."

"What?"

"Answer me this," she began, proposing a question for a question, as she brought her hand back to her side, "What do you consider your profession?"

Eric just flinched mid-stand before straightening fully. "My profession? What nonsense are you on about? My profession is whatever I say it is! If it makes me money or brings me closer to becoming undefeatable, then I do it. Theft, bankruptcy, espionage, assassination," Koala's open hand twitched at that, but the mercenary continued unnoticing, "you name the right price or the right target, and I do it!"

The brunette sighed. "And that's why you're weak."

"Weak, you sa—?" Before he could finish, Koala shot her hand out again, upside-down this time with index outstretched upwards as it's pointed target took another blow—this time the solar plexus—sending him to his knees as he struggled to catch his breath.

"Exactly, Eric!" she exclaimed with false praise before letting her anger show again, his lower position granting him the view of her eyes boring into him like the relentless tide eroding a cliff long-overdue. "You fancy yourself an assassin, but what do you really have to show for it? If you're really a good assassin, I should have been dead from the moment you saw me while I was meditating; I should have never realized you were there in the first place."

"About the only thing about you that I could even feasibly link to the word 'assassin' is your outfit—" continued Koala, gesturing to the garments in question, "—and that's not even all good! Yes, you've got the professional look, but the style looks like you've been taking the etymology waaaaay too seriously…"

Eric blankly stared back, completely lost in the conversation. "Etymology…?"

Huffing in impatience, the dark anger in her blue-black gaze shifted to irritation before returning stronger than ever. "I _mean_ that it makes it look like you use hashish. Or maybe you're just gay... You know, saying your fruit is the 'Okama' fruit wouldn't be a bad subtlety either."

Eric rose to his feet at that, face blood red in his livid state. "Shut your damn face, bitch! Shushushushu... Kama Kama no Tsumujikaze!"

"See that's the problem," Koala went on as if nothing had happened, bending out of the way of his attacks at an unreal speed as she continued her speech, "you have no subtlety, yet you call yourself an assassin? You have no right to even speak that word in front of me."

"And what makes you an expert?!" Eric retorted, still throwing wind blades. "Just shut up and die!"

The brunette raised an eyebrow at that as she replied with heavy sarcasm, "Aww, I thought you were going to torture me for information; I was just playing with you..."

"I've had enough of your worthless prattle! I'll obliterate you with my most powerful technique, and torture the other little girl to obtain the Ryūkotsu!"

Koala's eyes hardened at that. "Over my dead body."

"That's the gist of it! Kama Kama no..."

"You asked me..." she projected despite her low voice so that the mercenary could hear her as she took a wide stance with her arms at her sides, "what makes me an expert in the work of an assassin..."

"Shushushushushu... Kamaitachi Midareuchi! (Sickle Sickle Whirlwind Cut Chaos Attack!)" Swinging his hands out even faster than before, a whirlwind of razor-sharp wind enveloped Eric and launched forward at Koala, tearing apart trees and earth alike as it rampaged towards her still form.

"Tekkai (Iron Mass)."

—-—-—

(Meanwhile)

"What is that lunatic doing?!" Hardy shouted as he saw Eric's windstorm rise from the forest. _Well, he's certainly making a strong case in helping me expedite Nelson Royale's demotion, but..._ "Prepare another squad to escort a medic onto the island; we don't want any civilian casualties, and the sniper squad might be injured. I'll move out and handle Eric myself."

"Yes Shōsa!" As the men hurried to carry his orders out, the Lieutenant Commander finished placing his sword and sheath on his belt and leapt off the edge for the coast.

_Eric... Nelson... By this time tomorrow, you'll never have command over these men again._ With that thought, Hardy pulled his legs in and declared, "Geppō (Moonwalk)!" as he extended them again, pushing himself off the air with a small burst of wind left in his wake. As he repeated the process in focused concentration, he failed to notice a green bird amidst the rigging—which hadn't taken its eyes off of him ever since it had landed there—take flight towards the island mountain.

—-—-—

"I see... Thank you," Apis said, having listened to the bird's report of the Marines' activities. Though the Hiso Hiso no Mi seemed intrinsically useful, it really only came in handy when animals were interesting in helping or had useful bits of information; in this case the wildlife wasn't exactly pleased with the ruckus Marines had a habit of being around, and Eric was only making that worse, so it hadn't been hard to convince the avian to help her stay aware of the situation.

As the bird flew away, Apis turned back beneath the wing of Ryu-ji and absorbed all she had learned. Truth be told, she wanted to go out there and try and warn Koala or help in someway, but she quickly realized that course of action was counterproductive. At the end of the day, she was the target—or at least by proxy, since the Marines didn't know there was a living Millennium Dragon—and her friend was pulling them off the trail. Making an appearance would only ruin all that she was working for.

_Man,_ the Warship Islander thought, _did she have this already planned out, or is she just really good at turning bad luck around?_ Looking to Ryu-ji, she smiled after a moment and nodded back. "You're right, Ryu-ji. Koala is really strong, stronger than anyone I've ever known. If you believe she can help us, then how can I not have faith in her?"

*BOOM*

The sound of cannon fire echoed throughout the cave, shaking rocks loose from the ceiling before the mountain itself shook from the real shockwave. As Ryu-ji defended her, Apis couldn't help but echo her words again in hope and prayer. _Don't die out there, Koala._

—-—-—

As he finished his technique, Eric could only smirk at the destruction he had wrought about him. Not only had he mowed down stone and bark alike, but among the rubble he also spied, much to his initial surprise, the injured and occasionally mangled bodies of Marines who had been caught on the edge of his attack. _Fools. They should have stayed back and let me finish her off, and they paid for their error with their worthless lives._

_Still,_ he thought as he turned back to the cloud of debris where his target had been, _if this is the damage I can expect from the fringe, then she must've been obliterated._ Turning around towards the mountain, he started walking off to look for Apis. "Heh—"

"_So much for the infamous Kaijōsei Koala..._ right?"

"—!" Eric spun back around to see that the air had somehow cleared, revealing that Koala was still standing in the same position no worse for wear; not even her clothes had taken any damage, with the exception of being rather dirty due to the detrital pall. Dusting herself off of these things like she hadn't been caught in a deadly attack only made Eric more confused. "That's impossible! There's no way yo—!"

"I told you..." she interrupted him as she stood up normally, "I'd show you why I'm an expert on assassins. You think you're an assassin, but you've never gone up against the real McCoy—" the brunette blinked at her own turn of phrase before chuckling to herself as she ruffled her own hair. "Man... All of 'em are crazy strong, with a set of skills that surpasses the limits of humanity..." Smiling as she looked back up, she finished, "They've also got better banter than you, too."

Eric grit his teeth audibly before drawing his hands back to his face. "I already told you to shut up and die, you bitch! Kama Kama no—!"

"Soru (Shave)!"

In an instant, she vanished before Eric could prepare his attack. "Wh—"

"The game ends here..." Behind him, Koala had appeared with her leg swinging horizontally towards him. "Let me show you an assassin's wind slash... Rankyaku (Tempest Leg)!"

Ramming the front of her leg across his back at an incredible speed, a visible burst of compressed air sliced into him as the kick itself sent him flying across the clearing formed by his attack. With a choked cry of pain he managed to land on his feet, only to fall to his knees and hit the ground, cracking his sunglasses with the impact as he breathed heavily in pain.

"I went light and aimed between your major organs," Koala called out as she walked over, "so you'll live if you get the cut treated fast enough. Worst-case scenario, your spine may be pretty messed up, but that'll depend on what you do instead of what I've done."

"Y-y-you...!"

The martial artist simply stared down at the mercenary. "I've only assimilated the techniques I've gone up against on the fly, and yet you see what an an uninitiated person like me can do with these skills. To a real assassin, your skills are worth less than nothing."

Eric coughed to clear his throat as he tried to over come the shock. "And you say you went up against these 'real assassins', yet here you are alive. Not very good at their jobs, are they?"

"No..." Koala responded, "I only made it out alive thanks to luck and tenacity. After my first run-in, I managed to stay off their radar for a long time, or else I definitely wouldn't be here. By the time they tracked me down again I was able to pick one of their members out of a crowd much easier and avoid fighting as much as possible, or on my own terms if it came down to it. As strong as I am, I wouldn't bet on myself against them yet; they're quite superhuman."

"And you're not?" Eric managed to mutter through the pain, "Being able to replicate the power of a Devil's Fruit is totally insane!"

"Well, what can I say?" she replied, showing she'd heard him. "Your power doesn't seem to be that strong, or is that actually your fault for not developing it better?" _It's not like Rokushiki (Six Powers) come easy: getting this good at them took a lot of practice and training on top of working with Gyojin Karate._ "In any case—"

_Wait... Cannon fire!_ "—Uchimizu!"Reaching down to the bottom of her dress, she drew water from the edge where it had been sitting in the water and launched it above her into an oncoming cannonball, causing it to explode above them with a loud boom. "Tch, they're firing on the island even though they saw your technique? And there's still a bunch of injured Marines here, too..."

—-—-—

(Meanwhile — Seas Surrounding Warship Island)

Faster than anyone would have expected, Warship Island became surrounded by a tremendous fleet of Marine ships bearing the mark of the 8th Division, with iron chains held out across the squadron as they formed a circle around the landmass and the other three Marine vessels. And from outside the circle sat the unusual flagship of their fleet, red roof and all, carrying on it their obtuse 'admiral'.

"Buehehehee!" Nelson chuckled as he fanned himself on the deck, currently seated in a luxurious seat that had poles for being carried out on deck. "That'll teach Eric to keep me in the dark! And with the Kakuyoku no Jin (Crane Wing Formation), whoever he was chasing will have no chance to escape!"

"Shall we fire again, Teikoku?" one of the Marines manning the cannon stood up and asked with a salute.

"No," the heavy man replied, "One shot will do as a warning. From here out, we can't risk killing the target; send squads to search the island!" Closing his fan, he seethed a little as he stared out at the island. "If we'd simply tortured the information out of her in the first place, we wouldn't be in this situation. This time we'll make sure she tells us everything she knows about the Sennenryū!"

—-—-—

(At The Same Time — Warship Island)

Koala whistled from the treetops as she purveyed the warships before her. Despite the late hour, the brunette martial artist had had enough time for her eyes to adjust to the dark in order to see the formation. Having her eyes closed in mediation had helped, but admittedly she'd relied more on her other senses—both traditional and more supernatural—in her fight against Eric.

For all the dressing down she gave him, it was honestly unnerving and impressive that he still kept track of her in the dark with his sunglasses on.

"That's the 8th Division, eh?" she muttered to herself with a dint of sarcasm. "They certainly pull out all the stops trying to get their immortality fix, don't they... Marine-san?"

From the foliage Hardy stepped up to about his waist, his hands casually behind his back but his face serious. "I'd like to say that most Marines have such devotion whether or not personal gain is at hand, but I'd expect that you've had a few too many bad experiences to feel that way."

Koala shook her head. "On the contrary. I'm quite aware that there are plenty of good Marines out there—and you're probably not too bad of one yourself, Shōsa."

It took almost all of the Lieutenant Commander's focus and will to not fall off the tree. "How do you know my rank?"

"Little birdies have been telling me lots of things lately, Hardy-san," she jibed playfully back. Even if the Marines weren't aware of Apis' power, the double meaning was too good to pass up. "Though you using Geppō coming over here certainly would have tipped me off a bit more if I weren't already aware."

"I see..."

A pregnant pause passed as Hardy simply stood there stroking his mustache.

"Soooooooooo..." Koala began, unsure what was going on, "are you going to try and capture me, or...?"

"Well," he began, "my primary goal was taking down Eric the Whirlwind—"

"Which I did for you..." she supplied with a hint of sarcastic irritation.

"—and to protect my men that I'd sent to handle him."

"I'm not after your men, or else I would be stopping your medics instead of talking to you." The influx of more men hadn't escaped her notice, and she'd picked up on their movement fairy easily. "Heck, I didn't even hurt your men before; Eric's final attack swept up all your snipers. If I had to, I would have just knocked them out."

"Then I don't have to protect them from you, and thus have no need to fight you."

_What._ "Okay, I know I said I knew there were good Marines out there, but... I mean, not hurting your men or not, I _am_ a wanted bounty head of a palpable size for East Blue. And you're just going to stand there and shoot the breeze with me instead of taking me in."

Hardy had gone back to stroking his mustache. "Sounds about right."

"...I'd be suspicious of a trap, but I'm almost positive you're not lying... Is that... _legal_?"

"Well, to be perfectly honest, I don't actually know who you are," Koala couldn't help but rest her face in her awaiting palm at that, "and to be honest it's probably better off that way. My commanding officer was not only incredibly corrupt but also abusive to the men beneath his station."

"And if you were to bring me in, you'd totally get slated for a promotion. That'd help protect your men, wouldn't it?" Seriously, her bounty plus what they'd probably do with her once they had her alive was sure to get the guy to Captain at least.

"Not if the promotion came with a new assignment, and most of them do. Besides, you've done quite a lot to help that situation."

"Huh?" _All I did was get Apis here undetected and beat up a merc; how does that benefit the Marines?_

"Eric bribed Marines in Loguetown if not other towns as well in order to track you down. Even if I can't get Nelson Royale demoted after all this, that mercenary's going to be answering to the White Hunter."

"Nice to know Smoker does have some clout out in the world; I was beginning to worry all that good stopped short at his town's port..." Despite the friendly nature of their conversation, Koala was sweating a bit in her head. _That little weasel! If he told the Marines who he was looking for... No, either way, I might have Loguetown's Captain on my doorstep—Raoul's doorstep. I have to get back soon and make sure nothing's happened._ "Well, since you're listening so kindly, I'll fill you in on my plans for the evening—might help make a better report, eh?"

"Hmm?"

"See, I know next to nothing about all this immortality crap your superior's interested in," she began with the straightest face she could muster. At least she was telling half-truths, but she had to sell this or else this could go sour really quick, "and the little girl he's after doesn't really know anything either, but we both know he won't stop unless someone takes him down a notch. So I'm going to slide on board his ship and deck him for you."

"Yo–you'll do _what_?" It was one thing letting a potential pirate go, Hardy had come to terms with that; making deals with said character to beat up his lardy teikoku was something completely different.

"You heard me, though I suppose you'll want plausible deniability so feel free to 'not' hear me." The brunette gave him a shrug and turned back towards the noticeably larger ship beyond the formation. "I have to get out of this blockade eventually, and the farther all the Marines are from this island the better. What better way to get their attention than to knock out their boss?"

Though he couldn't see it, she grinned as she felt him lower his head in thought to consider. At such close range she could afford to be subtle with her skills. "Besides, you could lead them on a chase after me anyways. We could have an exhibition fight just to bank on both of us rising in bounty and rank respectively."

"And you can get on and take him out without any other Marines on board?" _Super stealthy? Incredibly fast? How strong can she be to believe she can do it?_ And Hardy certainly didn't see any doubt in her eyes after his inquiry. "Ma'am, before you had my attention; now you have my curiosity."

"Ma'am, huh...? I like it." She turned about showing off her bright smile. "Do you want to know my name? Speak now or forever hold your peace, Shōsa-San..."

The Lieutenant Commander chuckled back, "You act like I can't look you up later in our records."

Koala gave him her cutest pout. "Meanie, you're no fun." She couldn't hold it for long, though, as pirate and Marine shared a laugh together.

Hardy let out a finishing sigh as he looked up at the moon, its nearly full form before him rising through the stars. "A woman should be an illusion..."

"I'll take that as a no...?"

_I just can't get this damn smile to fall off my face, can I?_ "Just get outta here before I change my mind about more than who you are."

"Aye aye, Shōsa!" the brunette saluted mockingly yet properly as she leapt off into the air before kicking the air into the sky. "Geppō!"

The Lieutenant Commander simply stared after her before pulling his Marine cap over his face with the grin never faltering. _She's at least as good at Geppō, and likely better than me at the other techniques of Rokushiki. And yet for the physical prowess it implies, she has such a free spirit. She seems almost unreal; an illusion indeed._

"Shōsa!" A Marine called up from beneath the treelike, garnering Hardy's attention through an opening in the foliage. "We've gathered all the injured and made them stable enough to travel. Only a few serious injuries but no lost limbs, and with care soon they'll all be just fine."

"Excellent. See to it that they're all taken to the ship for treatment, and reassure the villagers that everything is alright: we've apprehended a dangerous man who was lurking about in the forest."

"Right away, sir!"

_I'd best get to my ship,_ Hardy thought. _It'll be great if she does as she said she would, but 'trust but verify' and all that; it doesn't hurt that I get a nice front row seat._

—-—-—

(About One Hundred Feet In The Air)

"Uuah! Such a nice view!" Koala said to herself as she ascended high into the cloudless night sky. "The stars and wind all around me make me feel so calm..."

Down below, she could hear the sounds of gears turning and machinery as the strange warship behind the iron curtain began to prepare a tremendous cannon from the front entrance of the base-structure. Not that it could hit her from her height, but she supposed they had a better chance with that one than any regular cannon.

"That, or they're planning on firing on the island... Well either way, I best make my strike before then." With that said, the brunette made a two-legged stomp and flipped herself upside down before launching off straight towards the flagship.

_How nostalgic..._ she thought, no longer talking out loud and increasing her drag (and get things flying into her mouth), _I did a skyfall that first day I met Apis, too. Didn't have to worry about not hurting Marines back then, though._

_(Flashback — One Month Ago)_

_"Than—" Nami paused as Koala leveled a serious stare towards the thief. "Sorry, I lost sight of her when we were attacked; Apis is still—"_

_Sighing, the martial artist let the tension in her face drop and grinned. "Don't worry about it." And with that she turned around and ran towards the port._

_"Wait, what are you—!" But by then, Koala had leapt off into the air and kicked off of the air. Launching herself just above the waterline, she sighted the eyesore of a pirate ship off the coast._

_As she approached the ship, she could hear the young girl, who Nami had said was named Apis, crying out, "Please, let go of me!" as she tried to struggle free from the pirates._

_"Shut up already and quit struggling!" the man with her in his hands told her, before calling to the other men, "Alright we're good, set sail already!"_

_"Aye Aye, Captain!"_

Not if I can help it._ Koala grinned at the thought as she brought her hands to her chest in a spherical shape, one hand over the other as if she was holding a ball between them. Even as she bounced lightly over the surface of the water, a feeling of stillness settled around her. Flexing her fingers wide, the effect was instant as the air in the ship's sails suddenly died, while the waves seemed to suddenly collide all around their ship, keeping it held in place._

_"What the—?" The lone pirate with the girl in his hands could only stare at the woman hovering over the sea, barely noticing the unnatural phenomenon that had the rest of his shipmates in an equal state of confusion._

_"Chapatsu-San (Ms Dyed Brunette)!"_

_The martial artist's eyebrow twitched before shouting at the pirate angrier than she'd meant to. "What do you think you're doing with that girl?!" _Who's hair is dyed?!

_One of the other men finally noticed the woman over the ocean and paled. "An ability user? Hey, give her all she's got!"_

_"We are!" The helmsman shouted back, having kept calling orders all the while, "It ain't working, though!"_

_"Damn!" The captain swore before looking at the girl in the mustard dress. "So you're a friend of hers? In that case... Catch!" And like that, he tossed the girl off towards the ocean._

_Letting her control of the air go, she pushed off to catch, barely halting her descent into the water at the waist, only for the girl to go limp in her arms with an exhausted face. "Apis-San!" _Is she a Devil's Fruit User?_ As the pirate ship turned to flee, Koala took one hand and waved across her form with a pulling of her fingers, drawing the water from her dress and skin before discarding it. "Apis-San, are you alright? Are you hurt?"_

_"N-no, I'm alright..." she got out._

_"That's good." Without warning Koala whacked her on the head, bending her hat inwards._

_"That hurt! What was that for?"_

_The brunette just leaned in with a glare as she started hopping back to land. "My hair color is 100% _natural_, thank you very much."_

_Sweating at the accidental slight, Apis nodded her head. "Sorry for unintentionally offendi—Ah!" Still looking down at her neck, she realized that something was missing from her usual attire. "My necklace...! The necklace of Ryu-ji's claw!"_

_"Eh?"_

—-—-—

_"Didn't think that would work..." the helmsman let of a sigh as they sailed away from the island._

_"Man, that was close..." the captain concurred._

_"Hey," one of the other pirates pointed out the necklace hanging from the second's coat, "what's that?"_

_"Ah," he noticed as he held it in his hand, "it was that brat's..."_

_"Speaking of the kid," the helmsman changed the subject, "that Devil's Fruit user was pretty harsh. Wasn't she manipulating the sea somehow?"_

_"Yeah," another chimed in. "It seemed more like that marital art fishmen do, though."_

_High above them, Koala grinned at that as she bounced off the air. She'd taken the liberty of listening in on the conversation so she could pinpoint where the necklace might be, but the interplay was rather amusing. _At least someone is right on the mark.

_"Eh? Those Grand Line monsters?" Letting the hand with the necklace go limp, the captain paled at the thought. "Wait a minute, a female martial artist from the Grand Line...?"_

Well,_ the brunette grinned, _Now's a good a time as any to make a dramatic entrance._ And with that she let her kicking cease and careened naturally towards their ship._

_"I remember now!" he spoke up, panicking so his voice carried easily enough without her needing to focus in. "That Grand Line woman is the strongest Fishman Karate master not under the World Government! She's the pirate—"_

_"UAAAAH!" The cry of the man in the crow's nest alerted everyone; as they looked to his frightened face and then upwards in the direction of his hand, they quickly joined him in fear as they spied the woman barreling towards them as fast as gravity could afford._

"—_Kaijōsei..." the captain finished mutely as the necklace dropped from his hand. Before it even hit the ground, Koala outstretched her fist towards the deck an instant before she collided. Smashing into the deck, the ship folded like paper and crinkled inwards, sending the numerous pirates flying into the air along with the jewelry as she tore through._

_Stopping herself from busting through the hull with her other arm, the martial artist pushed back up through the hole she rammed through the ship and landed on the splintering deck where she caught the necklace as it fell back down. Grinning, she gave the pirates a mock-salute before diving over the damaged bulwark into the sea._

_(Flashback End)_

_Uuuuuuah! That felt great!_ Koala pulled herself from the memory as she prepared to do the same thing yet again to the 8th Division flagship. _No, not the same thing,_ she reminded herself, _you told Hardy you wouldn't hurt his men and you meant it. Besides, who wants just a repeat performance anyways?_

"Target that falling woman! Move into position and shoot her out of the sky!" she heard a sleazy voice bark orders out at the Marines below.

_Nope._ The brunette grinned wider as she pushed off the air again. _If there's one thing different for one, I'm actually accelerating myself faster; I'll run through your giant cannon before it fires!_ Clapping her hands together, she shot them out towards hulking weapon. _I'd probably sprain a finger if I just did one, but I never was the best at Shigan (Finger Pistol) anyways. This'll have to do though!_ Twisting her hands and arms at incredible speeds that brought the rest of her body into motion, the air visibly began to spin in bands with her as she rammed straight into the barrel of the cannon.

To the surprise of all her Marine onlookers, even those who recognized the hallmarks of Rokushiki and suspected she might succeed, she went straight through without a single sound, letting her hands fall to her sides in fists as she walked forward from beneath it. Not only that, but the artillery had no damage at all at first inspection. They could only stare between her and her target before she spoke, releasing her fists as she did so. "Debatete: Senkouki (Knife Hands: Thousandrill Preseason)!"

And like that a piercing screech echoed out across the sea, visibly tearing at parts of the ship. The few who managed to keep looking despite the pain bore witness as the immense culverin seemingly vibrated itself to pieces before their very eyes. The loaded cannonball simply fell from the crumbling barrel into the brunette's waiting hand where she proceeded to lightly toss it up and back into her palm. For the others, the cannon simply vanishing was surprising enough.

"EEEEEEEEEEEH?!"

"She destroyed the Brobdingnagian Cannon?!"

"Wha-What the hell was that?!"

Koala smiled brightly. "Debatete: Senkouki!"

"We already know what it's called!"

"It looked like Rankyaku..." another Marine muttered thoughtfully as he gripped his sheathed sword.

"Ah, Rankyaku is part of it," she helpfully supplied, shocking him as he thought he'd gone unheard.

Many of the troops couldn't help but let a sweat drop form at that. _Why is she just shooting the breeze with us about her technique?_

The brunette looked up as she scratched her hair awkwardly. "Um... The name sounds cool, right?"

"_That's_ why?"

Koala pouted cutely at their rejection as she poked the deck with her finger. "I just came up with it on the spot, and I could use feedback..."

"Ah, well, uh..." One Marine started, "It is a drill-like motion, so Senkōki (drill) seems appropriate—"

"Huh?" she questioned with a tilt of her head. "It's not 'Senkōki', its 'Senkouki'... Were you guys even listening? 'Sen' as in 'thousand'," she began as she started counting off her fingers, "then 'Ko' like 'lake' or 'arc', and 'Uki' for 'preceding' and 'rainy season'. I mean, yeah, Senkōki is referentially important, but..."

_Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey..._ Now all the Marines let the sweat bead at the back of their heads. _What kind of 'cool' is she thinking of?_

She pouted again before shaking it off. "Well, what can you do... Right, Teikoku-san?"

"AAAH!" Turning about, all of the others on deck were treated to the sight of Nelson Royale out cold on his chair, his limp weight cracking the back of his seat. "TEIKOKU!"

"How did she knock him out from over there without making a sound?"

Instantly guns were turned on the young martial artist, the Marines finally having broken from her pace of questioning. "Put your hands up!"

_On the one hand, I kinda _did_ do what I came here to do,_ Koala thought as she weighed her options._ Handcuffs won't really hold me, and Kairōseki (Seastone) won't do them any good either. On the other hand..._ Grinning, she crossed her arms over her chest and replied, "No."

The assorted crewmen blinked. After a long moment of silence, during which the martial artist's smile slowly grow, one of them responded. "What?"

"I said no," she repeated.

The Marines thought they'd been caught in her pace before, but that was a brief distraction compared to when she was _trying_ to throw them a loop. "Why not?"

Koala shrugged, easily satisfied with their level of response as she thought about her exit strategy with the time they were giving to her. "I don't want to."

Most of her audience was simply dumbfounded into silence. Between the display of strength in the destruction of the cannon, her odd humor and interest in their perception, and now smiling them down as if she were turning down Valentines instead of ignoring their firearms, they were tying the extreme fragments of who she was together with their imaginations; the results of filling the gap were greater than they could comprehend very quickly.

The talkative one of the group, who was managing to be more down to earth, looked down in his hand and back at her, then a second time before he shook it slightly in her direction. "But I've got a gun."

"I don't care." This was too good, and Koala was just fine with milking it even though she knew her next course of action. How many times was she going to have the opportunity for something like this? Most people would have shot at her the moment she said no and made her do something, or at least done something less conversationally awkward.

"But..." The Marine sputtered as he looked to his allies for help and found them more stunned than he was as he futilely tried to understand her response. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Too bad." And as they all looked at each other again, she made her move with a whisper of, "Soru (Shave)!"

And when they looked back she was gone. Or rather, those that looked back found her gone. Those few further back whose surprise was greater were treated to the sight of the martial artist appearing in front of the fainted Nelson Royale and punching him straight through the tower where the Brobdingnagian once stood. Those that saw the event in motion could only stare and wait for their comrades to catch up to their stupor.

Before any of the Marines gathered their wits Koala leapt off towards the hole in the building, diving into the ocean. The sound of her splash finally woke them out of their stupor and moved to pursue, their commanding officer completely forgotten. Amidst the chaos of turning the ship around and sending commands to the rest of the fleet, the Marine that managed to keep talking to the brunette was recommended for promotion.

Eventually, the fleet wheeled itself around and chased after the rippling trail in the water, at which time Koala surfaced at the same spot that she'd dove in. "Being able to move currents is still so sweet!" she spoke out loud with a thumbs up, as if Hardy could hear her. "Mission: Accomplished!"

"Heeeeey! Koala-san!" Behind her, Apis waved from the coastline with the green birds fluttering overhead. The martial artist waved back before setting a brisk pace over to land.

"I assume your friends gave you a boring second-hand account of my 'exploits', eh?" Koala questioned jokingly as she leapt out of the ocean, enveloping the native in a surprisingly dry hug. "I'll have to regale you with the awesome tale myself."

Apis scoffed at the humor, grinning back all the while. "Sure, sure... So, did you figure out where Lost Island is?"

The brunette responded with mock offence. "Hey, I had to deal with the Marines _and _get them off your trail without hurting most of them. Cut me some slack, okay? I'd like to see you do both at the same time."

The two stood there in the embrace for a time as the wind blew by, neither saying anything as they both came to a similar realization. Finally, Apis broke the silence, "Koala... I—!" only to be interrupted as her hat was slid down her head from behind.

"If you don't want me to say good-bye, I can do that," the martial artist began, her smile more muted and distant but present nonetheless, "But you know I have to move on eventually. I still have so many things I need to do. Besides," she paused and released the embrace to kneel down to the younger girl's eye level, "You have to be able to grow up and win your own battles someday too."

"I... I know..." she replied as she failed to keep the tears from forming beneath her eyes, forcing her to wipe them with her sleeve. "It's not that... I just... Koala, you... You're the only real friend I've got, and..."

Koala had to school her features and hide the mix of shock and happiness at that admission. With the power of the Whisper Whisper Fruit, she thought Apis wouldn't be wanting for friends. To even rank her above Ryu-ji, whom she wanted to help reunite with his family, was frankly far beyond what she'd expected from her friend. Accepting her words and tears as truth while she gathered her thoughts, she embraced Apis once more as she began to elaborate tearfully on her shoulder.

"Ryu-ji doesn't really think about it," she tired to explain as she fought against the growing sobs in her voice, "but I've always known deep down that he'd pass from my life. Why would he need me if he has his whole family? I didn't want to admit it, but being with you made thinking about it okay as long as you're here."

"But... But why would he—?"

"My ability lets me talk to them like they're people, but in the end most animals are just animals or mostly so. Natural instinct will still override the friendship of one odd human being. And even if Ryu-ji does stay my friend, he will still go flying away for another thousand years. Either way..." Apis finally just let it out and burst in to tears as she returned the brunette's embrace as tightly as she could.

Koala matched the strength of her hold. "Apis..."

The blond sniffled before speaking through the cloth. "...I've always been alone... I don't even know what my parents look like, since they've been gone so long... None of the other kids talk to me because of my power... Bokuden-jiisan takes care of me, but he doesn't really see me there all that much..."

"So what...? You thought that just because I finished helping you that our friendship was over...? You silly idiot..." she responded, breaking the hug to look Apis in the eyes. "No matter where you are, you'll always be my friend, Apis. So chin up! You have to be strong and help Ryu-ji, right?"

"Yeah..." Apis nodded, wiping tears from her face. "Thank you, Koala... Um, after this is all over, will we'll see each other again?"

"Of course! Though now that I think of it," she paused in thought as she stood up, "you could probably use your Hiso Hiso to have a bird or fish send me letters."

"Ah!" Slapping her fist in her other palm, the young girl let her jaw hang in surprise, getting a chuckle from her senior. "I hadn't thought of that! I don't even know if my power will work on fish..."

Koala tilted her head. "Why wouldn't it? It allows you hear the inner hearts of animals, so why not fish?"

"It's a Devil's Fruit, after all," Apis pondered, "I guess I just assumed creatures of the sea would be immune..."

"Huh. Well, you'll never know for sure if you don't try. Just think: if you can talk to fish, you could probably get all kinds of good information from them and have your own spy network or something," the brunette stared off into space with a silly grin as she imagined Apis as a cool secret agent before shaking the idea from her head. _She might need Rokushiki training at that point... Not that I'd deny her if she asked, but... Wait..._ "Actually, if it's fish you're asking, they might know where Lost Island is already—sunken into the ocean or not!"

Koala didn't think Apis' face could be more surprised before, but it seemed her eyes found a way to distinguish her look. "Really?"

"In fact, I wonder if the fruit has to be used only on animals. Maybe you could hear the voice of people's hearts as well." Koala's smile widened as she ruffled her friend's hair through her hat. "You see, silly? You never really needed my help in the first place. If you thought that was what kept our friendship going, you've got another thing coming!"

"Wait, what are yo—gmmnphahaha!" And like that she was all over Apis, wiggling fingers tickling the young girl into fits of laughter until both of them were on the ground laughing up a storm. "You... *pant* always have to have the last *pant* laugh, don't you?"

"Oh, nonsense. Now come on," the martial artist chuckled as she got up and helped up her friend, "I've been dying to try out those butaman you kept talking about!"

"Ugh..." Apis grumbled as she thought about what that meant. "We'll have to sit through a good part of Bokuden-jiisan's story, most likely. Great..."

Koala just shook her head as they walked together back inland. "Oh come on, is it really that bad? Have you ever heard the whole thing from beginning to end before?"

Apis froze, as if she'd been caught stealing cookies. "No...?"

"Then you can't make a final judgment until you have!" she replied, running ahead of Apis as she stuck her tongue out at her. "For all you know, once he gets done sharing the family tree stuff, he'll finally get to the epic tale that all those many generations had been building up to. Like... The Tale of Ninja Jedi Derek Zoolander!"

"...what?"

"...never mind..."

—-—-—

(Later That Morning — Loguetown)

"Smoker-Taisa looked at the beautiful day and smiled. And no one, not even Kakumei no Dragon (Dragon the Revolutionary) would have liked the expression on his face."

Sighing, Smoker blew out his the intake from his cigars into the receiver. He knew the Den Den Mushi wouldn't blow it out the other end, but it'd get his point across easily enough. "Give it a rest, Hardy-Shōsa..."

"Ah, you say that now..." The snail responded, echoing the other officer's words across the ocean. "Maybe next time it might be different. One rank lower or not, you'll change your tune once you think about where I stand. So try not to blow smoke in my face when you have to refer to me as Hardy-_Chūsa_, okay?"

"My respect for your upcoming promotion and my distaste for your _lines_ are two very different things," the Captain replied, putting his feet on his desk. "If you spent half the of the time you put into coming up with those things towards work, you might have a bigger promotion already."

"Oh that wouldn't happen and you know it..."

_Hmmm... True enough, considering his situation with Nels—_

"These things come to me naturally, after all..."

—_and there he goes..._ Smoker just sighed again and chalked it up to his junior's eccentricities. Honestly, it was hard now and then listening Tashigi go on about swords. Compared to what he'd heard about other officers, Hardy was probably only one degree harder to deal with; that much was still manageable.

The Lieutenant Commander broke him from his thoughts. "You shipping that tub of lard off already?"

"Not quite," the Captain replied briefly before delving into explanation. "With all the unlawful officers that have come to light, Headquarters wants them all together to make an example of them together. If only someone managed to grab Drake and Gasparde, we'd have most of the menagerie of turncoats. Maybe they'd put them with Shiryū and make a party of it."

Pausing, he let out another plume of smoke that started to fill the room. "Besides, with the new arrivals coming in with the other Marine traitor, it'll be better to get them all out in one go."

"New arrivals?"

"We still don't have anyone that went rogue, but these corrupt fools will have to go to Enies Lobby regardless. Shipping pirates to Impel Down also uses the Tarai Current, so it's better done all at once. One of them has already been down in that hell already, so he'll surely be going right back."

"Wait, you mean..." Hardy paused for a moment on the other end of the line. "Ah, those guys. Well, with my division still under investigation after Nelson Royale, Loguetown is the closest outpost to the Grand Line in East Blue after all. You sure you can handle them?"

He couldn't help but let his temper slip for a moment. "Who the hell do you think I am...? Being born in the Grand Line isn't going to scare me off, and their talents don't impress me either." Looking out from his office window, where he had a clear view of the execution stand where the Pirate King met his end, Smoker chuckled at the thought that had come to his mind.

"What...?"

"Well, I don't usually let pirates get through this town to that cursed ocean...It seems I'll have to make an exception for Sawtooth Arlong."

* * *

><p><span>Omake: What's Mine Was Yours<span>

"...is this him?"

"His nose is broken, but there's no mistaking it."

Pausing, the two Marines lifted up the block of stone that held down the unconscious captain of the Fishman Pirates.

"Better put Seastone cuffs on him before he wakes up," the taller of the two noted.

"What'll that do?" the more portly Marine questioned, "He's a Fishman, not a Fruit User."

"Idiot, Seastone is as hard as diamond!" He let out a sigh as he explained."Even if it doesn't drain him, it'll be solid enough to keep his strength in check."

"Ah, right..." Flipping the unconscious person over, he latched a set of handcuffs onto his wrists behind the back.

"Either way, that's the last one," The taller Marine noted, "Are we done here?"

"Not quite," his compatriot began. "The captain is taking care of some of the rubble and weaponry."

"So what, is he using his ability to destroy stuff?"

The shorter man shuddered thinking about their superior's Devil Fruit power before amending his fellow's statement. "Not all of it—We can reuse a lot of basic stuff. But anything special in particular will probably get broken down. That is, unless someone else takes a liking to it."

The taller of the two blinked. "Wait, what? You mean if I find some crazy cool sword or something I can say 'I wanna learn how to use this,' and bam—it's mine?"

"It's not quite _that_ simple, but that's the bare basics."

"There's gotta be some catch. Like..." Looking around, he spied a handle beneath some rubble and pushed it aside. "Aha! This thing!" Picking it up, the shorter member balked at the long pole that had points on it like a shark's teeth. "Crazy dangerous, right? And you're saying I can just walk up and ask if I can use this? Come on, you have to have some kind of rank or something."

"Not much of one, apparently," the robust Marine shrugged, "There's an Ensign in Loguetown that wants to collect all the Meito in the world, and she's gotten a few from pirates she's beaten. Even guys in the Infantry and Sailor Division have their own weapon preferences, so it's not out of the question I think."

"Even still, if you're not trained well in using a weapon, isn't it kind of dangerous?"

The short Marine blinked. "What do you mean?"

"I mean what happens if the guy who originally used it gets free?" his thinner counterpart explained, "If you haven't got a good grasp of using it yet, he could take it right back no problem."

He snorted back as he went to pick up the unconscious captive. "And what makes you think someone is going to get out?"

"I'm just saying," his comrade said placatingly with a gesture of his hands, "if it can happen at Impel Down—_the_ prison of the Marines—it can happen here."

"Wait, what are you talking about? No one broke out of Impel Down..."

"Of course they don't spread it around, the civies would flip. But yeah, 20 years ago there was a breakout—The Flying Pirate himself."

Throwing the fishman over his shoulder, the large Marine's reply was simply a blank stare. "...who?"

Sighing, the taller man put his hand on the other's free shoulder. "Man, you really don't keep up on history. Kinjishi no Shiki (Shiki the Golden Lion)? One of Gold Roger and Whitebeard's generation of pirates?" The blank stare continued. "_Anyways_, he has some kind of flight Devil's Fruit that made him famous, so when they threw him into Impel Down he cut his own legs off—that's why they often do hands too, now—and literally flew the coup."

"Damn..."

"Before he did, though, he went and hunted down his two swords from inside the prison."

"Wait why would they keep his..." Realization hit as the stout Marine's eyes widened. "Oh..."

"Yeah. See what I mean?"

"Oh hey, you found one too?"

"Huh?" Turning about, another Marine with a mustache-beard combo carrying a pristine version of the weapon they'd unearthed had shown up behind them. "Where'd you find yours?"

"There was some weapons room in the lower floors that didn't totally cave in," the newcomer explained, "This one in particular was in a solid chest to protect it. I already use a zanbatō (horse-killing sword), and the craftsmanship on this looks pretty good. It's a bit bigger than my own, but that shouldn't be too hard to train up to."

"Huh... I see..."

"It shouldn't be too much to fix yours up, either. I'm good friends with the—"

"Hey, you know what?" Walking up, he dragged the broken blade over to the other Marine, "You can have it. I was just checking it out after all."

"Really? That means I'll have a spare to go with it in case it breaks! Thanks!"

As he walked away with his pair of giant swords, the two Marines stared at him for a moment before looking to each other. "Are his cuffs still secure?"

He checked. "Yep, and he's still out cold too."

"I have a bad feeling about this..."

"Hey you two!" From ahead of them, a Marine sporting an untraditional cap with a bulbous round top and a sheet over his face called out to them. "Quit dawdling and get over here. We've finished cleaning house already, we're heading to Loguetown with the prisoners."

"H-hai!" "Right away, Taisa!"

* * *

><p>Techniques<p>

Debatete: Senkouki (Knife Hands: Thousandrill Preseason; 出刃手手: 千湖右季). Debatete is a combination of applying Rankyaku to one's hands and arms and stabbing with the whole hand at Shigan-stabbing speed. The name is also a pun, as "tete-手手" is another way of saying "father-父", as hands are to fingers and, in fighting, knives are to guns.

Senkouki uses both hands together in a twisting motion. The speed at which the hands are thrust and the sharpness of the user's Rankyaku aid in piercing the target, while the twist creates a spiraling blade of compressed air that shreds the target from the inside out. Like other Rokushiki techniques, its power increases when performed with the aid of gravity and Geppō.

**Aaaaaand that wraps up the originally-planned Chapter 2. Similarly the Chapter 3 I expected will be in 2 chapters, if the work I've got on Chapter 4 is any indication—the rate of which will exist at the top of my profile and will be updated regularly as I make forward motion. I'm also still dropping hints to things around—some not so subtle but a few subtle ones like last time—so feel free to speculate again if you like.**

**Thanks again to all you readers checking out this story! With this school year done very shortly, I hope to have the update speed fairly decent; even better if my beta finds time to work on these chapters, too. I will still have commitments over the summer, but hopefully they won't be as obstructive (though school was surprisingly not as much as I expected, since I still churned out 2 chapters, but still).**

**Let me know if these un-beta'd chapters are decent enough that I should continue posting them and first and update them afterwards. Once again, Questions, Comments, Snide Remarks, Constructive Criticism, and so on are all appreciated.**

**Hope the ride continues to prove enjoyable; until next time!**


	4. Chapter 4: The Winds of Fate

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. I'd ask Oda if I could borrow the series for a day, but I'd rather improve my Japanese to ask him with first. He has plenty to deal with in the SBS already, no need to make him translate my English too... Then again, considering the trend of Luffy's attacks (like changing Ono to Axe) he might already be plenty good at it... Then again, he does use all that French that translators always complain about... Mmmmm...

**Fairy of the Friz—Once again, it seems most of the answers you seek lie in the words below~! See you at the bottom!**

**Chapter 4: The Winds of Fate**

* * *

><p>(Polestar Islands — Loguetown — Gold Roger Bar, 2nd Floor)<p>

*SLAM*

Back sliding down against a door, a young woman let out a sigh of relief. "They upped patrols again... Smoker-Taisa must be some kind of slave-driver to have his men on the lookout for me so often... Hehe, slave-driver..." She chuckled at her own dark humor as she pulled off her sunglasses and cap to reveal brunette hair and dark-blue eyes.

"Well," Koala said with a grunt as she pushed herself back up, "at least they're getting frustrated. That, plus the escape of Eric's traitors, will wear out their morale soon enough." _Not that it's helped much_, she thought to herself. In her comings and goings she'd nearly been caught once or twice, having to lay low and circumvent her path back to Raoul's bar.

Still, the former slave was thankful that Eric hadn't totally swindled those corrupt Marines; had he left them high-and-dry, she had no doubt they would've been caught and probably point their former allies in her direction just to try and save their own hides.

Looking around the room, Koala let out a more depressed sigh as she stared upon her room's empty state. "I feel so lonely already... At least she's finally taking everything in stride." Dodging the heat would have been easy if it weren't for her deliveries to Apis. The brunette wasn't going to need everything, since she already planned on moving on from Loguetown.

On one visit she'd finally sensed the coming rise of "Lost Island" around Warship Island, only to sense the calcified remains of other Sennenryū on its surface. Apis didn't believe her at first, but after insisting on bringing the matter to Ryu-ji, the elder dragon's memory jogged at last and he confirmed the notion: "Lost Island" was a dragon's graveyard.

What they hadn't expected was it also served as their birthing grounds, nor that the dragon's minds themselves would—to an extent—be passed on to the younger generation. That had helped lighten the blow of Ryu-ji's revelation immensely for the Warship Island girl. Koala made sure every visit afterwards to remind Apis of their friendship regardless, supporting her until she finally felt better about the whole thing.

It also helped their considerations for the future that the martial artist had more-or-less been right: the Hiso Hiso no Mi was not as clear-cut a Devil's Fruit as its user had originally thought. There was already talk of coming along for adventures after all, and the brunette was just as ecstatic about the idea as the blond was.

But for now, Koala was left alone in the empty room that had once held their rambunctiousness together. Even the impending move from Loguetown failed to diminish the melancholic nostalgia, though it didn't increase it either.

"Come on now," she told herself, slapping her cheeks. "Lighten up already! There's still so much to do, and you're not going to get it all done like this... Ah, man," she muttered as she scratched her scalp heavily, messing up her hair to its more spiky form, "I need to go train and clear my head, or I'll just waste the day away." And with that, she dove out of the open window and rolled off to the rooftops.

—-—-—

(Loguetown — Eastern Harbor)

Loguetown became most well known for the place where the Pirate King was born and later killed, but prior to that it made its name as a center of trade in the East Blue. Even after Gol D. Roger's execution, the docks of the vast city continued to be a lively center of commerce and exchange.

"Hurry it up, men! Clean the place out, and don't miss a cent!"

It just had more moments like these before Smoker-Taisa cleaned the streets up.

Sadly the hustle and bustle here was far from legal, blatantly upon the doorstep of the White Chaser. Standing brazenly on the port, the orange-haired captain with crescent beard and mustache let out a laugh as his men gathered up what money the local sailors had around to take.

"With all these provisions at hand, I, Crescent Moon Galley, will take another step towards hunting down that straw-hat bastard and his brunette wench!" he called out, getting chuckles from his subordinates who also felt like getting even, "So be sure to get every little scrap of treasure about!"

"Hey..."

"Huh...?" To their surprise, another figure now stood behind the largest group of his men, white smoke like his jacket rising from the pair of cigars in his mouth as he stared out at the mass of pirates.

"Who's the boss here?"

"Who the hell are you?" Galley responded, not in the mood to deal with anyone looking to play hero after the last time.

The man stepped forward, revealing to the other amassed pirates the word of "Justice" beneath the Jitte on his back. "You're the bastard known as Monkey D. Luffy? Let's see how tough you are, since you're dumb enough to show that ugly mug in my town."

Galley's crescent 'stache twitched at the facial burn. Blissfully unaware of whom he was messing with, he reacted as he normally would to such insults. "What?! You've got to be kidding me! I'll have you killed for mocking my face like that! _Get him!_"

In that moment, a plume of smoke quickly enveloped the Marine, obscuring his form in the fog before it began to envelop the whole rabble.

"Devil's Fruit, huh?" Galley muttered as he started sweating, "I've had enough of these damn powers, just like that straw hat!" Pulling his sword from its scabbard, he waved the oversized thing around with a smirk. "This sword of Kairōseki will cut all you Fruit users down to size. This'll teach you to insult Crescent Moo—"

"You talk too much..." Without warning, a barrage of gloved fists formed from the cloud of smoke and slammed into the captain's face, sending him crumpling to the ground as his sword clattered on the stone pavement. Before he could even fall from his knees to join it, he was tied up within the mist alongside his crew, before the smoke finally lifted.

"Good work, Smoker-Taisa! You took down Luffy's crew in record time!" A Marine said with a salute.

"Are you blind or just stupid?" Smoker retorted, getting a stunned face from his subordinate, "How could these losers be Luffy's? If those weaklings are worth 30 Million Beli, it'll be the end of the world."

"T-Then, what about Luffy?"

Taking a quick drag from his cigars, Smoker let the smoke plume before him. "He'll show himself soon enough. Sooner than this Kaijōsei, at any rate." _She's pretty good at laying low to have kept from my sight for so long, but if those two-bit traitors could find her out, it's only a matter of time._

"Huh?" Coming out of his thoughts, Smoker laid eyes on a young black-haired man wearing a red vest, blue shorts, sandals, and a striking straw-hat, looking around confused. "How did I end up at the harbor? How...? Hmm? HEY!" Spying them, he came running over.

Smoker leaned towards his subordinate. "Is that another one of these idiots?"

"Well, probably not..."

"This is great. Can you point me to the execution platform?"

"Execution platform?" Smoker repeated with a raised brow.

"Yeah," the young man turned back around scratching his head, "I think I'm lost."

"I haven't seen your face before."

"Yeah, I just came to this island today," explained with a grin before looking around—not noticing the tied-up Crescent Moon Pirates. "Man, what a big city! It's totally different from Fūsha Village..."

"Why are you looking for the gallows?"

"I want to see it. The place where the Pirate King died." Smoker's eyes widened slightly as they saw the look in the kid's. After a silence, the straw-hat kid sighed and turned around. "You don't know? Damn..."

"Wait." Directing his ability, the Captain altered the path of the smoke to his left. "Look where the smoke points."

"Ooh, over there! Thanks!" And like that he ran off down the streets.

_That kid..._

"Ah! That felt great!"

Turning about, Smoker spotted a young woman climbing out of the ocean. Stretching about in a white sundress that managed to not show off too much of her form despite how wet it was, she shook out the sea water from her brown hair leaving it in an unruly spiked mess. Looking up through her locks, she spied the Marine as they had a one-sided stare—he couldn't make out her eyes after all.

"Good day to you, Taisa." The brunette waved and walked forward casually, masking her thoughts from her body language. _Crap, Captain Smoker?! What's he doing her—ah!_ Looking down, she took notice of the bundle of pirates at his feet. _Is that... no, regardless, it'd be best not to know for sure._ "Caught some pirates this early in the day, eh? Just what you'd expect from a Captain from Marine Headquarters."

"Yeah..." the white-haired man paused and squinted slightly. "You seem familiar, but I don't quite recall seeing your face around here."

_That's because you've been searching for me... Good to know his habit of not checking wanted posters hasn't changed—not that mine looks like me right now._ "Oh, come on now. It's a big town; I wouldn't expect you to know every new citizen to move in. I've only been here a few months after all."

"Months...? Ah, you're Raoul's renter, then?"

"Guilty as charged, Taisa. The name's Roo," she introduced herself with not a pause at the change of name, offering her hand out to him. "Nice to finally meet you, though of course your reputation precedes you."

"Likewise on both counts," Smoker replied as he accepted the handshake, "Tashigi has been meaning to catch you for a chat on swords; Raoul mentioned you've started something of a collection."

"Ah, it's not anything Tashigi-Sōchō (Master Chief Petty Officer) would find worthy," _since the main 'attraction' is technically stolen form the government, and I'm a pirate._ "I don't even have any Meitō (Famous Swords) for her to ogle. My collection is more unique in nature than simply gathering famous swords. For example... Ah!" Spying Galley's dropped blade, 'Roo' walked over and picked it up.

"That flimsy thing?" the Captain questioned, "Seems oversized among other things for a collection."

"You could say that, and honestly you'd be 100% correct," the martial artist began. "The balance and size are all wrong. It's rather big even for me, and I'm at a decent height and have some experience in wielding zanbatō and such." Swinging the sword around with a manner that easily convinced the man of her statement, she sighed as she looked at her reflection in the guard. "Right now it's just someone's personal sword that they had lined with Kairōseki without consideration of the blade itself. From what I know of Meitō, this'd be crying for the mistreatment if it were one."

_She certainly talks like Tashigi,_ Smoker thought, remembering a similar statement about crying swords from his subordinate, before interrupting with a question. "How do you know it's only lined with Kairōseki?"

"Like I said, the balance is all wrong; it's in the weight that I can tell," she answered as she held the blade by its guard with her index and thumb upside down. "Right now, it's a waste of money and time."

"Right now...?"

Smiling, Koala turned her focus back to the Captain. "Exactly. If I took this to a reputable blacksmith, he could work it into a totally different weapon that'd easily be on par with any Meitō." Walking forward, she flipped the sword back into her hand as her other held the blade. "Those blades are famed because of their illustrious history, though not enough people keep track of that. That's half the reason why cursed swords still claim lives today, because so few can tell or keep record of their tales."

"There are plenty of great blacksmiths who can make Meitō-level blades and weapons; the difference is often as simple as who ends up using it and how they become famous. The best example would be Oto (Ten Cherry Blossoms) and Kogarashi (Cold Wintry Wind)—heard the names before?"

Smoker blinked. "They're familiar, actually, but I can't place where."

'Roo' smiled back. "I'd expect you to, which adds to their bonus as an example. Both are easily Meitō in all but name and fairly well known. The problem is that they belong to Shiki the Golden Lion, who isn't that well known for great swordsmanship—more famous for his powers, tactical skill, and great following—and nowadays is out hiding somewhere from the public eye. Swords don't get famous like that."

"By contrast," she finished with a sigh, "Dracule Mihawk could probably use any Meitō-quality blade, perhaps even one less-so, and it'd be in the books as one by the end of the week simply because it was chosen by the world's greatest swordsman."

"I see." _She certainly gives more layman's detail to the subject. Tashigi gets too eccentric about it at times._ "And these almost-Meitō weapons are what you're interested in?"

"Exactly! I'm a bit of a martial artist myself, so weapon use is a bit of a stretch from my scope of self-defense. But..." The brunette shook her head, sending some remaining drips of water from her hair. "I'd been hoping to bequeath some of my collection to someone who could make them known, but these days I'm starting to think I ought to go try and do it myself, even if I don't use weapons primarily. If I don't who will?"

"So you'd take on that Shichibukai?"

Koala paled, not wanting to get Smoker after her cover too. "Ah, I wouldn't want to kill him necessarily! I mean, like an honorable duel or something I guess..."

Smoker chuckled lightly at her panic. "Hey, don't worry about it. Tashigi's thought about it too. I'd wish you luck, but I ought to keep rooting for my subordinate after all."

"Ah yes, that'd be conflicting indeed." Pausing, the martial artist decided to just come out and ask. "Um, may I hav—?"

"Feel free; I certainly don't use a sword. Well, I have to get going, duties and all. Take care of yourself, Roo."

"You too. Thank you, Smoker-Taisa!"

Nodding back, he turned to his subordinate who had the rest of the pirates standing and ready to be moved. "Let's go."

After a long pause, Koala let out a long sigh. _Whew! That probably shaved a year off my life with all the pent-up stress alone! ...hm?_ Feeling a change in the wind, she looked up to the sky as she stretched her senses further. "This air current... It feels like a huge storm is coming, but it almost feels unnatural... In any case, I better hit the road soon before the weather sets in."

"But first..." she smiled as she looked down at the new sword in her possession before leaping up to the rooftops again, "I better get this looked at and rated. For all that stuff I said to Smoker, I'm still not a weapons expert; for all I know, this could still be Meitō-quality."

—-—-—

(Meanwhile — Loguetown Marine Base, Courtyard)

"UAAH!" Another group of Marines cried out in pain as they were blasted across the courtyard. A whole crowd of Marines looked on with weapons drawn at their injured comrades strewn about in varying degrees of injury.

"Shit!" one of the men near the back of the group cursed, "First Roronoa Zoro shows up in our base, and now this guy?"

"Smoker-Taisa and Tashigi-Sōchō are still out on business..." another replied, putting his hand on the first's shoulders, "We have to hold out until they return!"

One of the recently blown-back slowly got to their feet, gripping his bleeding shoulder. "Screw holding out, it's only one man! Get the Prison Shots and be quick about it, this guy is a Devil's Fruit User!"

In the center of the courtyard, the attacker took a moment and adjusted his slicked purple hairstyle to preserve its odd hook shape. Dusting off his grey blazer and matching pants, he bared his inch-long fingernails at his targets. "I'll only say this once more. Tell me where Kaijōsei is, and no one else has to get hurt."

The assembled Marines tightened their grips, weapons not faltering. "We don't make deals with criminals, Eric the Whirlwind!" A female Marine called out, "Give up quietly or we'll take you down!"

"That's too bad then," Eric sighed as he brought his fingers to his lips. "Shushushushushu... Kama Kama no...!"

"He's using his ability! Get back!"

"Take aim and fire!"

"...Kamaitachi Midareuchi!"

—-—-—

(Meanwhile — Loguetown Main Street)

After a spell, she spied her destination, a store on the side of Main Street with the sign "Arms Shop" above it in blue lettering. Landing as quietly as she could in a nearby alley, she walked out and into the store. "Excuse m—"

"You're the one who's being stupid! Just sell the damn thing!"

"H-Honey!"

Pausing at the doorway, Koala listened in. _Ah, sounds like their having an argument again. Best wait up for things to cool down before I—_

"Then let's do this," a new, deeper voice chimed in, causing the brunette to blink, "My luck against this sword's curse. Let's test which one is stronger."

_Wait a second...! That voice!_ Cracking the door open, she looked in with surprise as a green-haired man with a similarly colored haramaki threw a sword into the air, stretching out his arm to where the blade would fall.

"No way!"

"Don't do it! It's sharpness is the real thing! You'll loose your arm!" Rather than heed the advice of the shopkeeper, the man simply closed his eyes as the blade careened towards him. And like that...

...the sword passed right by him, sinking almost completely into the floorboards.

Looking up, the man only grinned. "I'll take it." And instantly the other young woman (whom Koala hadn't registered physically until then) and the shop keep keeled down in shock as the green-haired man let his arm down.

"Sonuvabitch, you're still such a crazy guy. Good to see you're not loosing your edge."

"Hmmm...? You!"

Without warning, both Koala and the swordsman took up arms—her the new blade, and him the blade from the floorboards—and ran past each other in a surprising show of speed as the clang of their blades echoed throughout the store without the other three even seeing them touch.

As the ring of steel on Kairōseki dimmed, both of them grinned widely. And as if the switch was flipped back again, their weapons were at their sides as they clasped their open hands together. "You haven't lost touch either, despite not primarily using a sword," the green-haired man commented before his eyes widened in remembrance and he gestured to the young woman on the floor, magenta-rimmed glasses eschew in the frame of her short dark hair. "Ah, that's right. This here is Tashigi-S_ōchō_."

Koala nodded, noting the subtle emphasis on her rank. _Ah, no real names, gotcha. Wonder why it matters to you, though..._ "Nice to meet you, sōchō. My name is Roo—"

"Ah!" she said excitedly, though still remaining down towards the ground, "you're the lady who Smoker-Taisa mentioned who also collects weapons! Is that one your favorite?"

"Hmm? No, I actually just got this courtesy of your Captain. Speaking of which..." Walking up to the counter, the brunette laid the blade down gently on its surface. "Hey, Ippon-Matsu! Could you rate this sword for me? If I'm going to turn it into a high-quality weapon, I better know where it's starting at."

"Ah, y-yes..." he nodded before shaking his head and calling out to the other male in the room. "Wait a minute, you!"

"What...?" the haramaki-wearing man wondered out loud as the owner ran upstairs.

—-—-—

"It really does feel better having three swords at my side," the green-haired man said with a smile as he and the brunette walked down the street, now sporting a sheathed white katana and another black and gold one crisscrossing around the cursed blade.

"You must've gotten into some crazy fights since I last saw you if you broke the ones I saw you with last, Zoro," she commented as they walked, adjusting the new black sheath on her back holding the zanbatō saber, "They weren't Meitō or quite on the level, but they had some good quality to them."

"Well, now I've got these guys so that's that," Zoro sighed, not wanting to lead into a reveal of his injury from Hawk-Eye and have her worrying over him. "They went down in battle with a swordsman, so there's no regret to be had."

"I see. I guess that's fine then..." Koala sighed, already figuring out how the Santōryū swordsman was fairing and his opinion on the matter. "I take it you're not quite on the good side of the law these days, considering you dodging away from that Marine woman back there."

Twitching at the thought of her, Zoro gritted his teeth. "Even if she wasn't a Marine, she still irritates the crap out of me." Letting out a sigh to lax his body, he saw the martial artist tapping her finger on her crossed arms awaiting an explanation. "All right, all right... She looks almost exactly like Kuina."

Koala's eyes widened. "Your childhood friend that you mentioned when we first met? What's 'almost' about her?"

"Besides missing more of her light personality and balance," Zoro explained with irritation in his voice, "it's literally just the glasses and the outfits. It's so close it's scary and distracting, and from what I've seen already, she'll be even worse about the whole 'women as swordsmen' thing..."

"Well, if things come to blades crossing out here, just let me handle her instead. There's no need for you to get her fixated on you and be a pain if she ever ranks up. Speaking of which..." She paused until he looked over to see the comical dark glint in her eyes, "You dodged my question about why you're in trouble with the law, Zoro..."

"Ah, right, sorry..." He said with another sigh, placating Koala's joking irritation. "I had a run in with some corrupt ones that were going to kill me when I stepped in the way to help someone. Long story short, I got saved by a pirate who wanted me on their crew."

"Ah, I see, you and your honor again," Koala chuckled, "I take it you guys are headed to the Grand Line, then?"

"Yeah. Luffy is aiming to be the Pirate King, so it's only natural. Hey..." Zoro paused as the brunette stopped in her tracks.

"Luffy...? Monkey D. Luffy?"

The green-haired swordsman just raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. You know him?"

"We met about a month ago... Small world, huh?"

Zoro grinned at her. "I'm surprised he didn't invite you to join his crew."

Koala turned to the side with her head down slightly, fingers awkwardly meshing together and making rippling motions with her hands. "Well... He did."

He blinked at the statement. "Really? And he actually gave up? You're pulling my leg here."

"No, really, he did. I just..." Silence seemed to engulf them despite the hustle and bustle of the street as Koala's gaze sank lower.

"Hey, Koala..." Zoro walked closer and put his hand on her shoulder gently.

"I-I'm okay, Zoro... I just..." She looked back to him, and he could tell she was trying to keep her emotions down. "It's weird, being wanted as a friend. I thought I was used to it, but... Gah! I don't know!" She exclaimed as she scratched at her scalp, screwing her hair up further. "It means a lot to me, but I... I need to settle things on my own for once."

Zoro tilted his head slightly in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Koala locked eyes with him as she fixed up her hair somewhat. "Ever since I was little, I've never been able to solve my own problems myself. Yeah, the small things are fine, but the really important things to me. People died because I couldn't do anything about it. I grew stronger with the help of others. But now I finally feel like I've come into my own; I have to see if I really can do something for once."

The swordsman just stared back for a time before grinning further. "Then do what you've got to do. But don't forget that Luffy'll be waiting for you; heck, I'll be waiting for you too. Don't be a stranger, okay?"

Finally smiling back, Koala nodded to him. "Yeah. Thanks, Zoro."

"It's nothing to thank me for. As a crew, we're going to get crazy strong or die trying. The same goes for you if you finally join up. To quote that shop keep, that'd be like I killed you, getting you to join that is."

"Zaahahaha! What are you talking about?" the brunette laughed shortly before knocking on Zoro's head jokingly, "Luffy _is_ aiming to travel across the whole Grand Line. What part of 'monster-strong or bust' was supposed to be unknown in that equation? Idiot..."

"Why you...!" Before Zoro could even put a hand on his swords, Koala was already a few feet away from him, tongue sticking out at him. Staring each other down, they both burst into laughter again.

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Koala sighed as she walked back and reached her arm over his shoulder, eliciting a flinch from the swordsman. "Hey, are your wounds really alright? I know you don't like me to mother you, but..."

"It's fine, really," he brushed her worry off, though not objecting to her physical position. "I just reopened an old wound in a fight recently. It'd been hurting a bit recently, so that octopus guy managed to get a couple of nicks on me on top of that."

_...?_ Koala withdrew her arm and turned to her friend. "Octopus guy...? What do you mean?"

"Hmmm? Ah, we fought a group of Fishmen Pirates earlier. They were actually pretty strong, too."

Koala paled but kept her composure. "The... Arlong Pirates, right...?"

Zoro blinked. "Yeah. How did you know?"

_"Whoever is getting in your way, all I have to do is beat them up, right?"_

"Damn it Luffy..." the brunette muttered as she palmed her face, before turning back to her friend. "Sorry Zoro, but I have to go do something. I promise, I'll catch up with you and Luffy some time soon, alright?"

"Oi!" he called out as she started running off into town. "I'll hold you to that, you hear?" Grinning, she gave him a wave without turning around as she leapt off to the rooftops. Zoro simply chuckled as he turned the other way. "I see she still likes to take the scenic route. Maybe I should go for it more often myself..."

—-—-—

_I said 'Damn it Luffy', but realistically this helps tremendously,_ Koala thought to herself as she bounded across Loguetown, using an occasional Geppō when no one was below to see it._ No matter what, they'll have to transfer Arlong somewhere else before sending him off to the Grand Line. If I can get that a fix on the trail of information I can have him within a week or two._

The brunette sighed as she continued on. _The flipside is that once he's in Impel Down again that'll be the end of it. I have to commit to it and stake it all on this last chance!_ Arriving at her destination, she dove headfirst into the window she'd left from earlier that day and rolled into a standing position. "Nailed it!"

"Oh, Koala!" From the doorway to her side, Raoul came in with a wide grin on his face. "You're back again! Or are you moving out at last?"

"The latter, unfortunately. I just got a beat on my objective, and I have to get on it fast. Sorry to have to bolt so suddenly." Bowing down with her head nearly to the floor (her hair doing the rest), she spoke with a firmer tone, "Thank you for taking care of me these past few months."

The old man chuckled as he removed his purple hat. "There's no need for any of that. You gave me hope that the pirates of this era would one day reach that lofty height left behind by Roger. You and that youngster."

"Youngster?" Koala questioned as she straightened up.

"Ah, he came in earlier today," Raoul explained as he walked past her, "I thought he was just another pointless rookie, but he's got some of the same spirit in him. Even that straw-hat of his looks like the one Roger used to wear when he was younger."

"Straw hat...?" _Seriously? This is getting surreal..._

"Yeah. Turns out the kid's worth 30 Million Beli. Even Smoker-Taisa was surprised to find out; he stormed right out of here. It's always a good day when the Captain gets a reality check, you know?"

"I suppose so..." the brunette replied blankly, still pondering the odd coincidences that seemed to come one after the other.

The barkeep looked back at her and blinked before giving her a jokingly snide look. "Well don't look so defeated! If you head out looking like that, you'll never accomplish anything." And with that, the sky erupted with a huge bolt of lightning in the distance, sending Raoul jumping his own height into the air.

Snapping out of her stupor, Koala ran over to the window to get a look at the aftershock. "When did it get so stormy? I know it was feeling like it'd be crazy, but that was really fast! Unnatural is one thing, this is practically deliberate..."

_If that bolt was any indication, I better get going quick before the weather gets any worse!_ "Thanks again, Raoul!" she called back to the old man who was carefully getting down from her table as she ran about and swept up her things in a flash. "Take care of yourself!" And like that, she was out the window again.

Raoul chuckled as he walked up to the window, hand gripping his hat tightly so it wouldn't blow away. "Those two are like peas in a pod. Heh, maybe I'm just going senile..." he chuckled as he sealed the window. _Good luck, Koala... Luffy... And show that Smoker a thing or two while you're at it!_

—-—-—

(Shortly After — Loguetown Main Street)

Amidst the sudden downpour, two sword fighters held still in their clash as they tested their strength against each other. Only the pitter-patter of rain and the rushing of water echoed around them.

"Why you...! Attacking a lady like that—!"

Well, all good things must come to an end.

"Stay out of this!" The swordswoman interrupted as she held the clash with her male opponent. "This is a duel between myself and Roronoa. Don't interfere!"

"You heard her," Zoro concurred without looking back on his friends. "Go on ahead."

Luffy simply grinned and put his hand on the blond's shoulder. "Let's go."

As they ran by, the well-dressed cook of the Straw-Hats left with a parting remark, "Zoro! If you hurt her, you're a dead man!" before following their captain down Main Street.

"Tashigi-Sōchō caught one!" One of the Marines cried as the pursuing group caught up to the fight.

"Hey, what did I say about letting her get fixated on you?" From the rooftops two objects blurred out towards the clashing sword fighters. Zoro easily drew his black-sheathed blade to deflect it, but Tashigi's attempt to dodge wasn't quick enough and forced her to block in a weak posture, knocking her over and sending her sliding down the slick street into an alley.

_Such strength...!_ The Marine thought to herself as she picked herself off the ground.

"Just as strong as last time, I see."

"Follow your own advice and go ahead," the voice echoed from the alley across the way, the twin objects drawn back to the source with surprising speed, "Smoker is sure to cut off Luffy at the pass and send men to attack your ship."

"Fair enough. Thanks!"

"Wai—!" Before she could leap out to pursue, another blur launched out in front of her, stabbing deep into the stone wall on the opposite end of her alley as the figure stepped out.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Tashigi-Sōchō, but Roronoa Zoro was out of your league long before today." From the shadows of the side-street walked a familiar brunette, standing between the Marine and her pirate target as she withdrew what now was clearly a kusarigama from the wall to her hand before holstering it on its chain about her hip.

Recognizing the woman before her, the swordswoman wiped the rain from her eyes in disbelief. "You're... Roo! Don't do this, Roo! That may be your friend, but he's fooled you; he's just a scoundrel bounty hunte—!"

"And what's wrong with being a bounty hunter?" 'Roo' interjected chidingly as she spun around—her sundress not letting a drop of water fall from its edge, "Regardless of the reason, such men bring others to justice in your stead."

"I-I suppose that's true... E-even so, Roronoa Zolo has joined up with Straw-Hat Luffy, a notorious pirate!"

"Indeed. And just how did he gain that notoriety?"

"Eh?"

The brunette shook her head in shame. "You don't know? No wonder the Marines are having so many problems... Monkey D. Luffy has been the best thing for your organization in East Blue since Smoker became Captain!"

Tashigi's brows furrowed at the other woman's statement. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"You conceded that bringing people to justice is important no matter who does it. But how often do the Marines look inward for such people? Not very, considering the running track record." Pausing, she took her hand from her hip and counted on her fingers as she listed off names. "Morgan-Taisa, Fullbody-Taii (Lieutenant), Nezumi-Taisa... All three officers defeated by Luffy were corrupt and needed to be taken down; he just got to them before your higher-ups could do anything about it—if they even were going to."

"Corrupt?"

Sighing, 'Roo' gave the sōchō a deadpan stare. "Corrupt: 'Having or showing a willingness to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain'. Ring a bell? Not to mention that the guy doesn't kill any Marines; I don't even need to get into the existence of Nelson Royale's 'Teikoku' position and corruption—"

The dark-haired Marine blinked. "Nelson? But we haven't revealed that he was defeated... And all those other details...! How did you—?"

"Ah, was it a secret?" The weapon-collector chuckled. "Eh, it's fine. You're being super thick anyways, you need the hint at this point."

"Masaka...! You're..." Tashigi gripped her sword tighter. "You're Kaijōsei no Koala?!"

"Ding ding ding! Finally! You were about to run out of time, too!" And like that, Koala vanished in a burst of speed that the swordswoman couldn't follow; only at the last second did she sense the presence behind her and dove before an oversized saber could slice into her torso. "I did say you aren't at Zoro's level, but it can't be said that you have no skill at all... Show me what your swordplay can do, Sōchō-san!"

—-—-—

(Meanwhile — Loguetown Main Street, Southern Harbor Entrance)

"So you've come, Straw-Hat Luffy... I told you before, if you don't beat me, you won't make it to the Grand Line..."

"Ah, I forgot about that..." Luffy grinned as he faced down the Marine Captain.

"You certainly like playing dumb..." Clenching his fists, Smoker narrowed his eyes in on his target. "First Kaijōsei hides out for months without us knowing, and now you expect to just waltz on out of here... I won't allow you to leave my city!" And like that, Smoker's arms turned into white smoke and enveloped Luffy.

"Ah! W-w-what is this? You...!" the pirate captain panicked as the smoke lifted him into the air.

Instantly the blond crewmate was at Smoker's side, a foot aiming for his head, only for it to turn to the same white smoke on impact and catch the offending limb in its grasp. "Don't mess with me, you weakling! White Blow!" Letting one arm release Luffy, the other connected to the smoke at the well-dressed man's leg and sent him flying into the wall of a nearby building.

"Sanji!" The captain cried as his nakama was attacked before turning to eye the Taisa angrily. "You...! Gomu Gomu no Pistol (Rubber Rubber Pistol)!" Stretching his arm out, he punched Smoker in the gut, only for his whole body to turn to smoke instead.

"This is the strength of a 30 Million Bounty Head?" From the smoke still surrounding him, Smoker formed behind Luffy and slammed him into the ground by his head as he moved to draw his jitte. "You're run of luck is over!"

"Santōryū: Tatsu Maki (Three Sword Style: Dragon Twister)!"

Drawing the weapon in a flash, the Captain moved to block only to be beset on his sides as well. _Can't block all three... Shit!_ Soon after the first, the other blades slid through his form as it turned it smoke. Before he could reform, however, the momentum of the attack sent the cloud flying into the air, dispersing him within the turbulent air currents.

Sheathing his swords, Zoro ran up and grabbed Luffy and Sanji and dragged them along as Smoker's jitte clanged off the cobblestone. "Hurry up, you two! The storm's getting heavier, and the Marines are closing in. That smoke-guy will probably be back, too!"

Slowly the smoke gathered back around the jitte, eventually forming into the white-haired Marine as he put the weapon on his back again. "Neat trick. But I won't let them get away!"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that..."

—-—-—

(Meanwhile — Main Street — Koala vs Tashigi)

Clashes echoed throughout the streets as steel met seastone. Tashigi was on the offensive trying to get through her opponents defense or make her falter—anything to wipe that creepy smile off her face! But Koala's guard never let up as she stared down Tashigi with a constant benign smile.

"That can't be all you've got, can it?" the martial artist jabbed verbally, not letting her facial expression falter with her words, "Put on a better effort, please?"

Gritting her teeth, the Marine woman pushed herself away and made for an overhead strike. "Shut up! And wipe that disgusting look off your face!" Her opponent didn't reply verbally, but continued to stare as she had before while she blocked the swing vertically with ease. Tashigi grunted with effort, but found she couldn't force her katana any closer.

"Swings like that are rather hard to do when you're a few inches shorter than someone, you know..." And with that Koala pushed back down towards her opponent's neck. Sparks flew as the sōchō struggled to keep her back, eventually deflecting the slash over her as she prepared to make a similar cut herself. Before she could, however, the brunette shifted her own blade inward and dropped the saber down, dragging the katana and her center of gravity along for the ride with a hideous screech of clashing metals.

_She's forced Shigure (Autumn Rain) inwards...! At this rate, she'll drive my own blade int—!_ Tashigi's thought process was interrupted as she realized too late that Koala had her trapped between her arm and the oversized saber as the martial artist simply pulled the weapon inward and planted her knee into the swordswoman's solar plexus. Unable to control her own reaction, she bent inwards from the blow to breathe and ran her back into her own katana, eliciting a sharp cry of pain from the Marine before she was thrown off into the street.

The brunette simply shook her head. "Zoro once said this to me... 'Scars on one's back are a swordsman's shame.' That wound on your back may heal well enough to never leave a mark, but in your heart the blade has already thrust itself through. This duel is over." Sheathing her sword, she began walking over to the defeated Marine who was struggling to get up.

"Why..."

"Hmm?"

"Why did you sheathe your sword?"

Koala raised an eyebrow. "I said it was over, didn't I?"

Onto her knees, Tashigi stared up through her dripping bangs. "Do you not intend to kill me...?"

"Oh believe me..." the martial artist explained with a dark joviality that the sōchō couldn't tell how serious it was, "If I were to kill you I don't need my weapons."

"But you won't..." she panted, pushing herself off with one hand and grabbing her sword with the other. "Why... Why won't you kill me?!"

That gave Koala pause. "I beg your pardon?"

"I thought you of all people would understand..." the dark-haired Marine began as she slowly rose, "...what it's like to be a woman in a man's world, wishing you were born a man... And yet you show me pity like all the rest! It's humiliating to have someone go easy on you in a duel! I didn't pick up a sword to play arou—"

"SHUT YOUR TRAP!" As the brunette yelled, the weather froze and blew back for a long moment before it returned stronger than ever; outside the alley, the winds exploded with incredible speed and fury in an eerie green hue, but she took no notice of the strange phenomenon. "For that dumb-ass reason, you'd demand death?"

Tashigi gritted her teeth. "Who are you to sa—?" Lucky she had kept her teeth clenched, as it kept her from eating chain as rounds of it suddenly constricted her body. Before she could even blink twice, Koala was in front of her with her head low, hair wildly flowing, and kama in crossed hands glinting in a flash of lightning.

"**Fuck you.**" And with that, the sickle-like weapons slashed across the swordswoman's chest, eliciting a pained cry from her as the blades sliced into her breasts. "Am I supposed to care that you wished you were a man so you could be a better swordsman? _Grow up!_" Swinging the chains attached to the kama, she threw her opponent over her shoulders and into the ground as she released the chains around her.

Beneath the locks of hair, the sōchō could feel the unadulterated rage piercing into her from the brunette's eyes as she spoke. "You think it's hard being a woman wielding a sword? Try being a _slave_ for a few years and get back to me on how being a woman works out for you!" Landing a brutal kick to her already injured chest that actually pushed her into the air, she slammed the handle of the kusarigama into the Marine's side and sent her sliding into a wall.

Using the wall to get a grip and steady herself, Tashigi could only stare back at the former slave with the same self-righteous anger that she began with as she readied her blade once more. Despite all the adrenaline pumping in her system, the pain from her wounds kept the words she'd heard from sinking in; she might have realized what a mistake that stare was, otherwise.

"You complain about being a woman swordsman, but you're still all talk!" Koala exclaimed as she began spinning the kusarigama in the air, "You're just a naïve little brat who hasn't had to deal with any of life's hardships!" Without so much as a twitch, the blade suddenly launched out above Tashigi, threatening to stab right into her skull. The Marine swordsman moved to block with Shigure and let out a cry of pain as the weapons clashed.

_Why is she so much stronger than me...?_ The bones in her legs creaked under the strain of the force as the blades sparked together as the instant stretched on like an eternity. Suddenly, the same force pulled the katana from her grasp, and before she could even gasp she lost the air to breathe. In that instant Koala was in front of her, fist outstretched and shoved into her stomach. With a push the sōchō went right back into the alley wall, smashing into the solid stone and leaving a cracked imprint.

Before she even slid far enough to touch the ground, the brunette was on her again, one hand at her throat cutting off her air while the other held Shigure close enough to split the dangling hairs of her bangs; her previous weapon already wrapped around her waist. "Before I get any angrier, tell me... Where is 'Saw-Tooth' Arlong being delivered to?"

Still gasping for air, Tashigi couldn't keep the recognition from her face before she tried to school her features as her bodily need was at last granted. "Is that...fish bastard one of your frie-_augh!_"

Koala frowned deeper as she drove the woman's own blade into the palm of what she assumed was the Marine's off-hand. "Actually, he's a huge asshole, and if I had the choice I'd probably never want to see him again. But I won't have any racist comments, or likening good friends to bad people, in my presence. Is that _clear?_" She slowly twisted the blade to emphasize her point, causing the woman against the wall to cry out in pain again before gathering herself.

"Just kill me already... I woe_eaa__**auhlk!**_"

"Doesn't really sound like you want to die, _Tashigi-Sōchō..._ And I should know," the former slave spat viciously, "More to the point... The loser doesn't get to decide their fate. Where. Is. Arlong?"

"You're not even a swordsm-**AH!**" Ripping the blade violently from her palm, Koala threw Tashigi into the air before connecting a roundhouse kick to her face that sent her careening to the ground.

"The next time you feel the need to make a smart-aleck, higher-than-thou, naïve bullshit like that, a _limb_ is coming off." Tossing Shigure into the air, the katana stabbed straight through the Marine's elbow and into the stone, eliciting a blood-curdling scream that was as horrible as it was incomprehensible. "If you knew the first thing about my bounty, you'd already know what a living hell I can make life for you without me having to remind you earlier. It's where I lived years of my childhood, and you don't go through things like that without picking up a few tricks."

Gasping for breath as she tried to calm herself, only causing more pain as the shifting of her chest shifted her arm around the blade, she cringed as she spoke. "Yo-you'll never get what you want...! The Marines will never give in. We'll stop you from reaching him! Captain will-"

"The Marines will... do what, exactly?" From the same entrance to the alley Koala had knocked the Marine through, Eric walked out with a smug grin on his face. Despite the heavy downpour his hair still held itself high, but more noticeably was the fresh blood still dripping down his hands, dried blood beneath elongated fingernails. "Last I checked, they were licking their wounds when they wouldn't tell me what I wanted to know..."

"You... You bastard...!" Pinned by her own sword, Tashigi could only squirm in pain in futile attempts to rise.

The mercenary just shook his head, ignoring the sōchō's plight in favor of staring down the martial artist. "They didn't even provide me any useful information; I already know where the holding cells are here, so your target's location was redundant. In the end, I found who I was looking for anyways."

Koala shook her own head right back at him, spraying water about in a lazy manner that bellied the malice bubbling to the surface. "I was wondering where the rest of those pursuers went... And what have you come to me for, Eric the Whirlwind? Still on that immortality bent?"

Letting the smirk fall, the man gripped his fists as tightly as one with long, sharp nails feasibly could without skewering themselves. "Of course! With Nelson arrested, you're my only remaining lead on the elixir. There's still plenty of time before the Sennenryū come back; I just need information, and you're going to give it to me, you damn fish woman!"

"_No._ Soru!" Vanishing, she appeared right behind him with her two index fingers outstretched. "Shigan..." Turning as he raised his hands to launch a blade of wind at her, her eyes glinted as she jabbed her fingers out toward his approaching hands, piercing both of them beneath the knuckles between his middle and ring fingers. "...Honryū (Finger Pistol: Torrent Dragon)!" Eric's cry of surprise was cut off as Koala withdrew her fingers and struck repeatedly with fervor.

Finally jumping back as he tried to deflect the attacks, the mercenary clutched his chest as he coughed up blood. Wiping the blood from his lips, he balked at the sight of his own hand in a flash of lightning, his long fingernails now broken. "My nails...! How did you—?"

"I don't have time to spell out life's mysteries to you, Eric..." Koala chided emotionlessly as she blurred towards him, "You've already answered my question. Gyojin Karate: Nisenmaigawara Mawashigeri (Fishman Karate: Two Thousand Tile Roundhouse Kick)!" Swinging her leg out, she slammed her foot hard into his ribs, the sounds of cracking bones drowned out in the thunderclap.

Tashigi looked on in horror as Eric dropped to the ground, jutting pieces of rib clearly visible beneath his bloodstained suit. "No way... He's—!"

"—had his chance to stay out of my way," the martial artist interrupted, walking past the Marine towards Main Street. "He ought to be able to survive this as well, though his body may not be so forgiving this time around." Sighing heavily to herself, she turned back around and drew Shigure from its wielder's arm carefully before setting it aside. "Man, I blew my top again. Sorry about this, Tashigi-Sōchō..."

Looking up, the swordswoman saw that Koala's hair had matted down again, her eyes no longer glowing with dark intentions; she got the impression she was truly sorry for what had just transpired, and for once Tashigi finally just kept her eyes down and her mouth shut as her victorious opponent walked out of the alley.

"Take care of yourself, Tashigi..." the brunette called back, "I hope that the next time we meet, you won't seek the embrace of death so easily."

At last, the dark-haired Marine let out a sigh of relief as the pirate leapt off to the rooftops, simply happy for the whole experience to be over.

—-—-—

Koala rushed across the rooftops, breathing deeply not from exhaustion but to try and calm herself down. _That was really bad. I haven't had an angry blowout like that in years. I didn't think I was that pissed off when I dealt with Galley, but putting up with Eric twice plus Tashigi's ranting really got to me. Not to mention I could have _killed _her when I threw her sword up in the air! What was I thinking...?_

_If I go and face Arlong right now, when I'm this unstable... No, I don't a choice. If I don't, he'll be gone by the end of the day! As if Luffy and I didn't set them on alert already; 'Whirlwind' showing up and slaughtering a bunch of them probably has them calling reinforcements from Marine Headquarters!_

Sighing heavily as she traveled, the brunette couldn't help but mutter out loud, "If only I could track down more of that medicine... It's too bad Drum Island's had so many problems that their doctors aren't exporting anymore; most people can't just up and leave for the Grand Line to get medical treatment..."

Hearing a small whining sound, she looked down at the twin kusarigama about her waist and chuckled. "That's right, you really like winter islands like Drum. I never really got that about you, but to each his own I suppose." Letting her face turn slightly more serious, she questioned her weapon, "Are you ready to meet a Fishman for the first time, Umizoui?"

Receiving an excited hum from the sickles and chain, she smiled back. "Well, let's hope it doesn't turn out violent. I've had enough bloodshed for one day, and the Arlong Pirates aren't going to stop for a friendly spar if they're in a fighting mood."

—-—-—

(At The Same Time — Main Street Rooftops)

Standing on the rooftops, a man in a green cloak chuckled as the wind blew about him, uncaring about the gathering of Marines below him. Looking across the rooftops, the man spied a figure leaping between buildings in the distance and grinned. "She too, has a great destiny awaiting her at the end of her journey. Being a pirate is good as well, but in her case it is a pity; in another life her strong will and belief in changing the world would have made her a fine member of our cause. Or perhaps there is time yet...?"

Opening his hands out below him, he now laughed at the stormy heavens, as if his voice might reach those he spoke to from so far away. "Go forth! Attain your destinies! If that's what you want, then make your dream come true!"

Below, Smoker turned and looked up to the man as his subordinates gathered after the recent burst of wind. "Why? Why did you help that man? Dragon!"

Dragon simply stood there, not even looking down to meet the Captain's eyes. "What reason is there to stop someone from sailing?" And with a bolt of lightning he was gone.

Smoker turned to look at the caravel out in the distance. "Get me a ship. I'm heading after them."

His subordinates couldn't contain their surprise as one spoke out. "Sir, you can't just abandon your post here at Loguetown...!"

"I told you not to order me around, Mashikaku!" Smoker paused to look around, noticing that all of the Marines he'd been with in pursuit were there except for the group with... "And where is Tashigi and her squad?"

"Tashigi-Sōchō?" Mashikaku repeated formally, "I heard she stopped to fight Roronoa Zoro, but I haven't seen anyone from her squad..."

Smoker grit his teeth, breaking one of his cigars. "The Pirate Hunter already attacked me and helped Straw-Hat get away from me... Send out a search team for them on the double!"

"Y-Yes sir!"

_Dragon's gone, but the storm isn't letting up... I've got a bad feeling about this..._

—-—-—

(Meanwhile — Loguetown Marine Base Holding Cells)

Considering Smoker's considerable skill and ability, most pirates who were worth their salt often veered away from Loguetown to not deal with him. For the city at large, this was a great thing, but for the Marines themselves it meant there were parts of the system that weren't as up-to-snuff as they should have been.

The Captain from Marine Headquarters did his part to make sure things ran well, but one man's oversight only goes so far, and the man never did visit the holding cells very often.

For all the slight openings that this left, some of the Marines were aware of these problems and did their best to fill in the gaps. With the state of alert across Loguetown with the fighting in the central plaza and the search for the Master Chief Petty Officer, this was ramped up to eleven.

But with everyone so focused on these fixes and so forth, minor things easily fell by the wayside, especially in terms of comfort for the prisoners in said holding cells.

So it was no surprise that the Arlong Pirates found themselves locked up in harsh lock-ups that didn't really have much in terms of creature comforts. A few of them didn't even keep out the chill of the wind, being close enough to windows or doors that a gust would pass right through.

Unfortunately, with all the commotion, no one thought to close these things to make things more comfortable for the Fishmen. Or, more seriously, it never occurred to the Marines on watch that even the slight drops of rain carried by the harsh winds of the storm might prove useful to the imprisoned pirates.

In the dark of his cell, Arlong's lips curled, baring his rows of teeth in a vicious smile.

* * *

><p>Techniques<p>

Shigan Honryū (Finger Pistol: Torrent Dragon; 指銃: 奔竜). A variant of Shigan: Ōren (Finger Pistol: Yellow Lotus; 指銃:黃蓮) performed with either or both hands, which applies the skills of Fishman Karate to strike with bursts compressed water vapor that echo into the target's own water content. This allows the technique to deal both exterior damage with the speed of the piercing finger, and internal damage with strikes directly to the body's organs from a medium distance.

* * *

><p><strong>Fairy of the Friz: Glad you're enjoying the ride. Honestly, I wrote that bit in Chapter 2 not intending to make it a reference, but once I wrote 'troublesome' I realized it had run away from me, and the only way to catch it was to follow the path it made. The omake was born shortly after.<strong>

**As to your questions, Dragon is certainly on board with you~! To your one unanswered question, I'm afraid I'm not sure when that answer will be revealed. The original draft of this story might have answered that one sooner, but this approach works much more smoothly for my own process. (Thanks again to ye olde beta, who brought it to my attention and is still working hard~!)**

**Speaking of my beta, you all probably noticed I totally forgot to explain the technique from Chapter 3. I've already put it there too, but I left it here for a bit just to catch those that already read that far so backtracking need not happen. I can just hear him chastising me in my ear, along with my inner version of him repeatedly saying "She's **_**so **__**wet!**_**"**

**Aaaaand that's the last of me being ahead of the game! I still have direction on the tale I'm telling of course, but Chapter 5 has nothing written for it yet, compared to 2-4 where I just kept chugging before I posted. Let's see how fast I can churn this one out, eh?**

**Anyways, I'm off to relax for a while: I'm performing in Les Misérables— we just opened with repeated standing ovations this week—and I want to be well-rested for the next four weeks of our run; it's going to be great! Until next time!**


	5. Chapter 5: Changing Beliefs

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. If I did, I'd be preparing for my tonsil removal surgery. And my cyborg enhancements. I really want to hold Oda to his word on getting that bazooka on his shoulder, but I know I'll just be happy to see more One Piece in two weeks. Apparently there's a lot of potential complications with this kind of medical procedure.

Chopper! Get on your creator's case ASAP! Whatdya mean you can't cross dimensions? Can't the Door Door Use—OH, that's riiiight, Blueno sucks at his power. Damn...

Oda! Quick! Make Blueno have a better imagination ASAP!

**alittlebitlate—The best overarching description of Kaijōsei's canon-relationship remains 'For Want of a Nail' AU, to pilfer the ponderings of a certain someone *cough* Phalanx *cough*; As of this posting, I've put that in the description so it can be known. Thank you again for our discussion!**

**Nurofen—Thank you for your uplifting words! *applauds***

**Fairy of the Friz—*reads post-underscore sentence* *re-reads description* *re-reads said sentence* *whistles to self* (Dunno if what interaction you'll find here some large number of chapters away will keep your little fangirl heart fluttering, but I hope it shall suffice); And lo, you always have enough patience that when you ask questions, most are answered the next chapter!**

**Chapter 5: Changing Beliefs**

* * *

><p>(Polestar Islands — A Forest North of Loguetown)<p>

In the midst of the Buggy Pirates taking over the Loguetown's main plaza, the Marines made sure to have the civilian populace evacuate away from their homes. The reports of the damage Buggy had done to Orange Town and out in the Organ Islands in general gave them enough reason not to have them simply hide inside, and the man's entrance only solidified that plan.

Luckily enough, the only major property damage that occurred was mostly superficial from the storm, as Buggy didn't set off any bombs this time around.

Despite the crisis being over and the town safe from the Buggy Pirates, the civilians that had been evacuated remained under guard by the Marines. Some of the citizens got irritable at that, but it was quickly revealed that not even the men stationed with them knew what was taking Smoker-Taisa so long to give the all clear.

Despite the low mood, one young girl kept right along with her happy day as she explored the nearby forest they'd been evacuated to, much to her father's chagrin.

"Hey Yū, don't go running off!" the man called out to his daughter, who had climbed partway up a leaning tree and was looking off into the distance. Blond hair blowing in the wind even from underneath her two cyan clips, she bounced happily on the branches as her tan stripped dress with candy-cane collar flowed in the wind. "Come down from there, dear!"

"Daddy!" the blond child called down excitedly as she spied a caravel sailing out from the docks, "There's a sheep-ship sailing out there!"

"Hmmm? Ah, that's nice dear..." the man sighed, trying to calm himself down. "Now please come down from the tree?"

Yū sighed before making her way down. "Yes, Daddy..."

"Thank you, sweetie," her father said with a ruffle of her hair as she rose back up from picking up a blue shoulder bag.

Looking back out towards Loguetown for a moment, she walked back over to her father and tugged on his shirt. "Daddy? Are the bad pirates still attacking?"

Her father blinked before sighing worriedly. "It seems that way, dear. But don't you worry your little head, everything will be just fine."

Contrary to what he expected, his daughter just beamed at that. "I'm not scared, Daddy, cause the good pirates and the Marines will stop them!"

"...good pirates...?"

"Yep! Oh...!" _Right... I was supposed to keep that a secret..._ "H-Haven't you heard? Some of my friends said they heard some grown-ups talking about how some pirates do nice things."

"Hmmm... Well, all right... Just be careful now, sweetie." Sighing, the father patted his daughter's head and went back to talk with some of their neighbors. He was a bit too worried about the current situation to be too concerned with his daughter's notion of piracy, but maybe he'd hear something while he chatted with his fellow citizens.

Meanwhile, Yū just looked back at her hometown, smiled, and whispered a chant of, "Go get 'em, Koala!" before running off to find her friends and play.

—-—-—

(Loguetown — Eastern Harbor)

Honestly, the Marines would _love_ to explain to the citizens of Loguetown why they were still on high alert evacuation, and kept from returning to their homes. _Really_. But in the end, no one really wanted to be caught holding the empty bag in front of the people they wanted to protect—the bag being the highest-security prison on the island, and the cat being Arlong and his entire crew trying to hijack a ship and escape.

Nor did any of them feel like leaving the bag in the hands of their comrades who were actually guarding the townsfolk was fair; they had done their jobs to the letter and were still doing it.

...they had to stop the pirates first, anyways...

...and Smoker hadn't arrived from catching Straw-Hat Luffy yet...

Yeah...

The downside for Arlong and his crew is that they busted out pretty quickly, before the Marines that dropped them off there could leave. Not that they really thought it'd make a difference, even with Shū-Taisa on board, but they couldn't help but note that it'd make leaving rougher.

The Captain, on the other hand, was rather pissed but slightly happy to be in some action as he and his men moved to clean up what he saw as Smoker's mess; his crew was also rather stir-crazy from their time at Marine Headquarters, and hyped up for a fight.

As it stood, however, just being excited wasn't a good enough match on its own to face down a group of fishmen—already far stronger than the average human—who had a surprisingly large advantage due to the rain, fairly desperate, and not in the mood for fair play.

Their first move? Arlong ripped _the prison_ from the ground and_ threw it at them_.

A lucky handful survived by being scooped up by said penitentiary and grabbed something for dear life, but most of the Marines outpouring from the main gangplanks of the Warship were struck dead in the single toss. The side sprinkling of bricks that fell off of it added up, too.

"You bastard...!" One Marine who had been off to the side spat out through his mustache-beard combo, pulling a large zanbatō off his back that had large points on it like shark teeth. "You and your crew are either leaving here in chains or in a body bag!"

Arlong simply grinned as he ducked the slash casually. "Ah, you've brought Kiribachi (Shark Saw) along for me. How thoughtful." Before the Marine could even swing the weapon again, Arlong leapt in and stabbed him in the chest with his nose. "I'll be taking my weapon back now." With a flick of his neck, the mustached Marine was thrown up onto the deck of the ship while the sawshark fishman took some practice swings out on the nearby Marines trying to stop him.

And giving the leader of the enemy his giant weapon back made it his own mess, not only to Shū's dismay but to his men who knew that it had become his problem and, therefore, theirs as well.

"I hate it when you're right!" one of the Marines on board the ship cried out as he readied his rifle.

Another one nearby slapped the first in the back of the head before doing the same. "Less talking, more shooting!"

"Heh, worthless," A pale ray fishman in a dark blue gi chuckled, ripping a large cutlass from another Marine as the snipers fired. In a flash, he swung his blade out and deflected the shots aimed at them, slashing up a fair number of enemies nearby at the same time. "This is all the Marines can do to stop us?"

Hurrying to reload, the gunners soon found themselves under attack as shots of water fired through their cover. From Arlong's other side, a blue smelt-whiting fishman with puckered lips smirked as his targets scrambled for cover. Following his comrade's example, he nabbed two katana from the defeated and brandished them threateningly. "You think we were just sitting idle all these years? We've been training our asses off to take you Marine bastards down!"

"Is that so...?" From behind him, white smoke enveloped him and hoisted him into the air. Forming at the end of the smoke near the ground, Smoker-Taisa grimaced as he shifted his cigars to one side. "I could say the same here: I've been training my ass off to take you rotten pirates down too!"

"Wantō Giri (Arm Blade Slash)!"

From behind him, the gi-wearing fishman swung at the Captain's neck with the fin on his arm. To the surprise of all humans present, Smoker didn't disperse into smoke and coughed up blood as the attack sent him flying into the wall of the thrown prison, releasing the other fishman from his grasp. Grinning, the ray fishman slid into a solid fighing stance, cutlass sheathed beneath his black belt.

Getting back up and wiping his face, the white-haired Marine grimaced as he stared down the pirate. "What was that...?"

"Didn't you know?" the fishman replied, "Smoke partially consists of water vapor—which leaves you vulnerable to my Gyojin Karate. And the whiter the smoke..." Catching some rain water in his hand, he tossed it casually only for it to fly from his hand at an incredible speed and slam into Smoker's chest, eliciting a painful grunt as he failed again to turn to smoke and coughed up more blood. "...the more water vapor you're made out of."

"That bastard, chu..." the blue fishman muttered as he got to his feet. "I'll kill hi—!"

"Chew..." Pausing, he turned to Arlong who's eyes were shadowed but hands clenched in what he could only assume was anger. "Let Kuroobi handle Smoker... Go with Kaneshiro and the crew to take that Marine vessel. I can trust you to handle any big-shots on board, right?"

Sweating for a moment, Chew let out a cleansing breath before giving his captain a grin. "I gotcha. Alright everybody, we're taking that ship!" Joining with him in a rousing cheer, the fishmen charged onto the warship amidst the fading gunfire and clashing of weapons as Smoker and Kuroobi's fight drifted further away, leaving Arlong alone in the ruined docking area.

"Whoever is hiding back there, you'd best come out before I make you," Arlong spoke out amidst the patter of rain, not bothering to turn to face the direction he knew he was speaking towards. "I may not train in Gyojin Karate like Kuroobi, but I learned enough to sense presences in water; the rain works well enough for me to find a lowly human."

"Oh...?" A feminine voice replied, her voice ringing true somewhere deep within the fishman's memory. "And for what purpose has "Saw-Tooth Arlong" for sensing lowly humans?"

Arlong chuckled. "Besides your reveal? I do find it useful when challenging certain members of the Shichibukai."

The woman chucked back at that, and he could sense her presence walking up to his back. "I take it you mean Jinbe-sama, correct? I suppose against a master of Fishman Karate, being able to sense oncoming attacks would be rather useful indeed."

"-sama...? Human trash like you don't deserve to refer to Jinbe-aniki like that!" The sawtooth shark fishman swung his zanbatō about him but hit nothing but air and rain. Focusing out his senses, he found the moisture in the air far more condensed around him. "What...?"

"Don't be like that, Arlong-san..." Moving to slash again at hearing the voice behind him, the pirate's blade was blocked before he could gain any momentum as it clashed against a twin-kusarigama. And holding the chained weapon stood the woman herself, wearing a red tea-length sundress with a dark-blue belt-like waistline and matching wave-design at the bottom that matched the color of her eyes. Her brown hair was soaked three shades darker in the rain and darkened by the storm, but there was no mistaking the woman that stood before him. "I looked up to all of the Sun Pirates, even you when you weren't being a jerk."

"Koala..."

—-—-—

(Eastern Harbor — Marine Warship — Chew vs Shū)

"Man..." Chew muttered as he and the fishmen charged the vessel, "Even if Arlong isn't pissed at me, I'd be better off not giving him a reason to be, chu. I underestimated that long-nose brat and he got the better of me, and I can't let my guard down anymore!" Turning to the men, he gave them a forward motion with one of his katana. "I'll take down their defenses, you charge the topside!"

As the crew charged up the gangplank or dove into the ocean, the smelt-whiting fishman dipped his mouth in to the ocean, filling up with seawater until his stomach expanded tremendously. At his side, a pink-skinned fishman with large blue fins on the side of his head grabbed his shoulder. "Aim for the cannons on the broadside—some damage to the wall isn't too hard of a fix once we're out of here."

"Understood, Kaneshiro. Mizu Taihō (Water Cannon)!" In an instant the whole glob was fired out at the ship, smashing into the side of the warship and blowing a massive hole in the hull. "There's another entrance, charge on in! Hyappatsu Mizudeppō (Hundred-Shot Water Gun)!" Instead of firing one large blob, Chew started spitting out shots of water at high speeds at the Marines now revealed by his previous attack.

Before the attack could reach them it was intercepted as rubbish was thrown in the way, turning orange-red as it spread itself wide and walled the side of the ship closed. Not only did it stop the shots, but the hole was sealed up preventing the pirates from entering that way.

Chew grimaced before drinking up more water. "Tch... A Devil's Fruit User... The rest of you board the ship from the deck; I'll handle this one. Mizu Taihō!" Firing another large blast that blew away the substance, the fishman officer leapt into the hole as the material returned and closed the breach.

Waiting for him was a Marine in the usual officer wares trimmed to their liking, save for the newsboy-styled cap and the veil about his face. Two dark-orange braces on his wrists shifted as the man moved to a low stance with his arms outstretched. "You got through I see..." He spoke lowly, "I take it you're one of Arlong's best?"

Grinning, he shifted the two katana in his hands. "Yep, Arlong Pirate Officer Chew, ready and willing to kill your crew. Mizudeppō (Water Gun)!" Shooting a long burst of water, the Marine ducked it and charged in. The fishman swung a katana at him expecting him to dodge into his prepared shot, only for his opponent to ignore the blade completely and reach for his face. "Woah there!" Backing off while extending the swing, Chew looked down to find his blade weakening before his eyes. "What is this...? Rust?"

"Indeed. I ate the Sabi Sabi no Mi (Rust Rust Fruit) and became a Rust Man. By touching me, your blade has oxidized and become weak. The rain is a rather nice bonus, as rusting goes faster with the moisture." Charging ahead and kicking out at him, the fishman blocked with his blades on instinct, only for the rusted sword to shatter and the other to rust and crumble as the Marine landed made to grab his throat.

"How's this for moisture? Mizudeppō!" Spitting another burst of water out, he forced the man to dodge as he gained some distance. "You got a name, rust trash? Or are you only going to show off your fancy power, chu? Hyappatsu Mizudeppō!"

"Sabi Kabe (Rust Wall)!" Grabbing a nearby rifle, the Marine threw it towards the fishman as the whole thing began turning to rust and spread into a thin barrier. Taking the hits until the attack ended, the wall crumbled to the floor revealing the man ready to leap into the fray once again. "I am Shū, a Captain from Marine Headquarters, and I'll be taking you into custody!"

—-—-—

(At The Same Time — South-Eastern Harbor — Smoker vs Kuroobi)

"White Blow!"

"Gyojin Karate: Hyakumaigawara Seiken (Fishman Karate: Hundred Tile True Punch)!"

Fist empowered by smoke billowing forward met its grey webbed match as Smoker and Kuroobi's techniques collided. Gritting his teeth with a smile, Kuroobi slid back against the force as Smoker clenched his other hand against the extended arm. "White Out!" Using the smoke from the arm, he tried to envelop the fishman and lift him into the air.

"You don't learn very quick, do you?" The martial artist chuckled as he began to spin around, "I'm practically in the ocean like this! Itomaki Kumite (Devilfish Sparring)!" From the spiral a black thread launched out through the smoke, trailing damage through the arm before wrapping around the Captain's neck.

Choking as it wringed his throat tighter, Smoker looked down as he tried to free himself. "Ack... Hair...?"

With a spin in the other direction, Kuroobi dragged Smoker in through his own retracting smoke. "Gyojin Karate: Ka Ka Kakato Otoshi (Fishman Karate: Fire Flower Heel Drop)!" From the spin, he slammed his heel into Smoker's dragged head and sent him straight down to the cobblestone, dispersing the smoke as he retracted his own hair and caught water in his hands and threw it. "Uchimizu!"

"White Vine!" Turning to smoke, the Marine swirled around the pirate as he dodged the water bullets and rose behind him, swinging his jitte as his upper half formed behind him.

"You think that'll work on me because it's not made of smoke?" the ray fishman taunted as he drew his stolen cutlass and deflected the strike—avoiding the kagi that would mean his disarming—before instantly dividing the Taisa's torso into fractions of floating smoke, leaving his head floating by itself. "Hissatsu: Jōdan Bakushō (Certain Kill: High-Rank Exploding Palm)!" Slamming his open palm into Smoker's chin, the smoke it turned to went shooting into the sky too fast for the cry of pain to carry.

Reforming back on the ground as his opponent landed, Smoker brandished his jitte before him as he panted. _The hits just keep coming, and he's a skilled swordsman to boot...! Are fishmen really this much stronger? Or is it just my ability that means I take greater damage?_

_Tsk, how irritating..._ Despite the clear lead in the fight, Kuroobi thought to himself much of the same as he resumed his own stance. _Not one, but two humans survived that blow from underwater-like conditions... And this man is a Marine Captain; have I really grown so weak to fall behind these inferior... No..._

"Hmmm...?" Smoker paused as his opponent changed his stance with a loud exhale before staring at him solemly. "Looks like you've got something to say..."

"Not to you, particularly..." the marital artist replied as he took another cleansing breath. "It seems I've let arrogance blind my judgment for too long; I'll have to redouble my training and my focus. In any case, it seems you're a decent opponent, but I cannot fall here!"

_He's kicking me up and down the street, and he thinks _he's_ going soft?_ Smoker tightened his hold on his weapon as he charged forward. "I'll end this here and now! You pirate scum won't leave my city!"

A small smile grew on Kuroobi's face at that. "Your city, huh..." _Arrogance after all..._ With that last thought, he charged as well with cutlass at the ready. "Let's see if your justice can protect it!"

—-—-—

(Meanwhile — An Alley Off of Main Street)

"...t...e sh...s!...Oi! T...uch...Tashigi-Sōchō!"

"...!" Tashigi sat upright in an instant, only to cringe as pain wracked her body.

"Easy there, Sōchō," She heard from behind her, hands holding her still. "We've only just patched up your wounds."

_That voice..._ "Mashikaku-san...?"

"Yeah, it's me."

Sighing in relief for a moment, the Master Chief Petty Officer focused in and spoke to her subordinate. "What happened to my men?"

"We were hoping you could tell us, Sōchō." Following his eyes, Tashigi saw Marines out on the main drag carrying others on stretchers. "All of them were cut up by something or somebody, then blown across town with the debris when the wind picked up."

_Cut up... Wind...! _"Ah!" Looking around, the dark-haired Marine scanned the alleyway. "Where is he? There was a man here with me!"

Mashikaku blinked. "Ah, that one. He was severely injured, but he took to treatment well. He ought to be ba—!"

"No!" Tashigi paled, realizing what they had done and the danger they were in. "Where is he? That man—!"

"GAH!" A cry of pain echoed from the street as a Marine ran in with his arm bleeding.

Standing while supporting his standing officer by his knees, he turned to the injured man. "What's happening out there?"

"Mashikaku-Ittōhei (Seaman First Class)!" the Marine saluted as best he could. "The man we picked up from the alley is attacking us!"

"What?"

"We have to stop him!" Tashigi asserted as she used the wall to help her stand. "That man isn't just some bystander: he's Eric the Whirlwind!"

Mashikaku's face went grim at that information. "Eric? That bastard who bribed the chore boys and that Seaman Recruit to spy for him?"

"The very same. Don't let his appearance fool you," she spoke with trepidation, "he's a powerful Devil's Fruit user, and is very ruthless. He's the one that attacked my men, as well as the base earlier today."

Nodding, the Ittōhei spared a look towards his own subordinate before turning back. "We can handle it for now. Can you move, Sōchō?"

"I'm good enough to go up against someone more injured than I am. We'll fight him together!"

"But Sōc—!" the Marine tried to object, but Mashikaku held him back with a halting hand gesture, his other hand pulling the green-sheathed sword from his back.

"Understood, Tashigi-Sōchō." Handing over her katana, she moved to take it only for him to hold it in his own grip. Meeting his stare, she nodded once more before he stayed his hand. Hearing another cry closer than before, he drew his rifle. "He's coming. I'll cover you."

Drawing Shigure, noting the lack of her own blood upon it with some relief, Tashigi steadied herself as they heard the Marines outside the alley moving to keep their target surrounded as the sound of bare feet approached the alley. "Understood, Ittōhei!"

Eric stepped into the alleyway with an odd swagger, his hair no longer upright and flowing with his sway. His hands and suit were covered in blood that was a mix of his own and others, but what caught Tashigi's attention was his feet, which had long, sharpened nails extending from each toe like his hands previously had.

_Did he have those nails prepared this whole time? Why didn't he use them...?_ Remembering the intel they had on him and his combat style from the short skirmish with Koala, she steadied herself and warned her allies. "Watch out for swings from his feet—he can create blades of wind with those nails of his! The rest of you, stay out of the alley; we'll handle this!"

"Head back to port by the base quickly," the Seaman added, "they'll need you there more than here!"

Tashigi turned in confusion. "What do you mean? What's happening?"

"Where is she..." Eric muttered as he stumbled forward, his sunglasses slipping in the rain to show his squinted eyes that one couldn't tell if they were open or closed. "Kaijōsei... **Where is she?**" And in an instant his shamble became a skillful run towards the Marines.

"I'll tell you later; we've got our own problems first!" Mashikaku replied as he moved to fire, but as he did, Eric pulled out his hand and waved in front of him. The bullet approached through distorted air as it careened off course into the wall. "What...?"

_Shit, he can still use his broken nails?_ Moving in to swing as she tried ignored the pain in her elbow, she wasn't surprised to find him blocking with his broken nails, a hands worth of broken nails clutching the blade as he moved to stab through her heart with the other. Sidestepping to avoid the fatal strike, she dragged her blade with her with sparks flying as she tried to rip it from his grasp and slash down his side.

"**Out of my **_**way!**_" Leaning into the wall and gripping it with his shattered nails, the mercenary launched a flurry of kicks that send wind blades coming at her in force. Blocking as many as she could see with her strained eyesight, she still took a slice across her face before a foot planted itself in her stomach, pushing her back against the other wall.

Another shot rang out from the side, but rather than deflecting it Eric simply pushed off the wall and latched onto the other with his toes, his sunglasses falling to the ground with a crack as they shattered. Not even sparing a glance at the Ittōhei for shooting, he pushed himself off towards the Marine's superior again. "Tashigi, above you!"

Preparing to block, she paused as she noticed him whispering with his hand at his mouth before he shouted out, "Kama Kama no Kamaitachi!" A distorted blade of wind larger than the others came flying down threatening to entrap her between it and himself, but the swordswoman dove out of the way as the unstable attack crashed into the cobblestone with a grating whir.

_He did something to make that attack bigger than before,_ Tashigi thought as she got back into her stance with a wince of pain,_ but his nails must have made it not work properly... Ah!_ Understanding lit within her eyes as she recalled the last attack._ The whispering? Maybe that's why he didn't bother with his feet, because he can't strengthen the attacks that way!_

The Devil's Fruit User growled like a wild animal before he leapt off the wall at her. "**Where is Kaijōsei? I'll kill her!**" Putting his foot forward into a leaping kick, he brought his hand to his face in preparation. "Shushushu... Kama Kama no Tsumujikaze!" Launching multiple bursts of wind from his hands, he surrounded her in attacks as he barreled in for his strike.

The dark-haired sōchō remained still with her sword ready, _The way he's acting, it's like he's in a mad rage..._ As he descended upon her, she sidestepped his kick at the last moment, deflecting the wind blade that came with it with her katana. Before she could retaliate, the distorted wind attacks collided with the ground and knocked her back on impact alone despite her dodge.

_Whether or not he's conscious of it, he's fighting desperate. We can take him._ "Mashikaku! I've pinpointed a weakness; fire on my mark!"

The Ittōhei nodded with a smile as he readied his rifle. "Understood!"

—-—-—

(Meanwhile — Eastern Harbor — Koala vs Arlong)

"Wah!" Dodging the swing, Koala rolled to her feet and stared at the gash left in the concrete. "What was that fo—WUYAH!" Before she could finish, she cried out as she leapt into the air as a vertical swing threatened to decapitate her. "Seriously, I thought I was the one who would need calming down! What is with you? I don't understand!"

Arlong grunted as he swung the Kiribachi at the brunette while she was in midair, only for her to leap off the air and get behind him. "You bitch! You think you can just waltz in here and act like nothing happened?"

Shaking out the cobwebs, the martial artist whipped out her kusarigama and started deflecting his swings with precision as she stared into his more narrowed, bloodshot eyes. "I expected ten years was long enough of a wait spent trying to find your ass in the first place, so I didn't think you would go animalistic on me from the get-go!"

"Shut your mouth! It's your fault...!" Pausing for only a moment, Koala could see in that instant the tears that were forming as he swung his zanbatō with reckless abandon. "It's _your_ fault that Big Brother Tai is dead, you damn _human!_"

"No, you shut _your_ damn mouth! Gyojin Karate: Umizoui—Zanzō (Fishman Karate: Wading Through The Tides of Life—Elephant of Balance)!" The brunette threw out the kama directly at Arlong's saw-sword with an underhand swing, blade coming in for a slice from below aimed at the rope supports of the weapon.

"Calling that technique like you can do it... Disgusting!" Twisting the blade to deflect the slash, the sawshark was in for a surprise when the second kama started slicing through the supports as the weapon shook down to Arlong's arm. "What? You little...!" _This ripple... It's like Fishman Karate, but it's impossible to channel the effects through weapons!_ Twisting back the other direction—saving the upper teeth from falling out—he went to smash the kusarigama into the ground when the weapon's heads suddenly merged together at his side. "Huh?"

On the ground, a whole loop of chain started changing shape along with the two kama with rapid speed. As the form quickly solidified within a brief instant, the humongous shape burst towards Arlong with sharp points ready to skewer him. Blocking with the remaining blades of Kiribachi, he barely kept himself from being bore by the twisting shape of tusks.

In an instant, Koala was behind him, the chain around her waist now half-transformed into a tail. "Let's let the weapons sit for now and talk with our fists properly. I can't get a word in edgewise in either fighting or conversation with you swinging your angry sword around like that!" As she spoke, the tusks somehow clamped down on his zanbatō and ripped it from his hands as the chain loosened and retracted fully into the tail of the—

"—Elephant...? Your weapon is a Devil's Fruit using elephant?"

"To be more precise, he's a kusarigama I had forged that ate the Zō Zō no Mi (Elephant Elephant Fruit)," the brunette corrected with a wide grin at Arlong's barely-hidden surprise. "The Marines come up with some crazy things, eh? Arlong, I'd like you to meet my good friend and companion, Umizoui."

The elephant let out a friendly burst of sound from its trunk over its head as it walked away with Kiribachi, which only made Arlong balk the more. "How did you get your hands on something like that?"

Koala scratched her head. "I accidentally stole it..." Pausing, she blinked before her shoulders slumped. "...and I realize how dumb and unbelievable that sounds now that it's left my mouth..."

"Not as much as you'd expect, but yeah." the pirate captain interjected with a bit of a deadpan that caught her by suprise. "What is 'Umizoui' supposed to mean, anyways? Ocean Elephant...Strange?"

The brunette's shoulders went lower as her hair blocked out her eyes. "Not just the Marines, but you guys too...? I thought it was cool... Umizoi is 'coastlands', zo is like to keep plowing, ui is 'shifts of karma', and it makes the pun with 'elephant'... not to mention—!" In an instant she perked and sidestepped as Arlong lobbed a pile of water at her with incredible speed, smashing a hole in the cobblestone where it landed. "Hey! Don't be splashing water at me!"

Arlong twitched as a vein grew on the side of his face. "I said shut your damn mouth! Rattling off ridiculous naming combos like Jinbe after he got that epithet of his... Using Fishman Karate like you're one of us... I've had it with your childish innocence bullshit! I'm going to make you pay!"

"I don't know what you're talking about..." the martial artist began as she too gathered water from the rain, "but it seems like I'm not going to get anywhere in talking to you until I put you down a peg. Easier said than done but I'd like to think I can back it up, and you just likened me to Jinbe-sama, so I'm feeling pretty good today. Bring it on!"

"There he is!" Charging from the side of the ship came a force of Marines with weapons at the ready. "If we can take down Saw-Tooth Arlong here, the pirates morale will..." Circling right around the fishman, the leader of the group paused as he stared at the brunette standing opposite him, her eyes shadowed by her hair. "Hey, who are...?"

In synch, Arlong and Koala each grew a wide vein on their heads as they shouted, _"Don't get in the way!"_

The Marine leader balked as the woman revealed her face. "Oh no..."

"_**Uchimizu!"**_

—-—-—

(Meanwhile — Marine Warship, South-Eastern Harbor — Chew vs Shū, Smoker vs Kuroobi)

"Why do I always have to fight the quick and tricky ones...?" Chew bemoaned as Shū dodged another Mizudeppō and ducked behind more cover. As much as the Fishman could have expected, he popped out from a completely different place with guns blazing. Taking care to dodge or shoot down the incoming bullets, he fired back his own salvo with a call of, "Hyappatsu Mizudeppō!"

Ducking behind the extension of the mast, the Captain avoided getting shot only to pop out from the upper half firing his pistols. The height change finally caught the pirate off guard as one bullet caught in his arm. Trying to shake his arm out, he realized he couldn't as rust started to spread from the wound. "Hmmm... Odd," the attacker mused as he landed in a kneeling position, "It's less effective than I expected..."

Sighing, Chew stuck his lip to the opening and sucked in, spitting out the rusting bullet and a mass of rust and blood that crumbled away. "I thought so... Rusting iron bullets. You planning on rusting my blood still?"

"Either that, or rusting your bones away," the newsboy-capped Marine replied, standing up from his crouch. "I would say that it ought to have been more effective, but judging by your comment you could tell it entered your bloodstream and slowed its advance with your race's skills?"

"Got it in one, chu..." the officer answered as he shook the arm out. "You've got a good mind, so why are you sticking around fighting me?" Gesturing above with his other arm, he grinned. "Even if you hold me off, the rest of the crew ought to be able to handle it, and once I take you down it won't matter."

Shū-Taisa shifted at that with his hands clenched tighter. "And what makes you think your victory is assured, fishman?"

Chew chuckled. "To use your ability to the max like you did with those katana, you need physical contact—especially since I can counter those rusting bullets."

"Arrogant... What makes you think I can't get closer, pirate scum?"

Suddenly, the wall of rust behind Chew crumbled towards him, causing him to jump back in surprise, only heightened as he realized what his opponent had done. _He can't actually do anything with that rust—it's a feint!_

"Soru!" Turning back, the Captain was on him, catching his throat in one hand and his injured arm in the other. "You're done..." the Marine said with certainty, only for nothing to happen. "What...?"

"You should really let people finish talking, Marine-san..." Grabbing him by his own throat with his free hand, the Arlong Pirate lifted up Shū and pulled him off of his own neck with distance alone. "Last time I did get cocky, but this time I've thought it out. There's more than one reason why I've won this fight."

"Impossible... How are you not rusting?"

"Oh I was, and it itches like a bitch, chu," The fishman smiled as he puffed his cheeks up and spat a rusty blob of water in the man's face, continuing his speech while scratching rust off of his throat while his opponent cried out in pain. "As I was saying, you admitted yourself that moisture helps you rust things faster... So I simply went the other direction and sucked the water out of the air around me and off of my own skin."

Shū's eyes widened on instinct, causing him to cry in pain as the foreign material slid further into his eye sockets. "But how... How can you do that?"

Chew tilted his head as he carried the Captain to the side of the ship that was now open to the elements with the wall of rust released. "Didn't you know? Liquids remain in their state of matter because they constantly produce their gas form to resist atmospheric pressure. Sucking the water in the air just means the water on my skin will turn to gas faster."

"You... you pirate scum..." Shū struggled against the grip but found it difficult with his airways constricted.

"Ah, that sounds better than slurs about my race," the fishman chuckled as he extended his hand. "For that, I'll be merciful and let you drown in the ocean. Shooting you full of holes with seawater would be a worse fate. Heck, maybe someone will be able to save you." Letting go, he waved with his open hand. "Farewell, Shū-Taisa."

_"Damn it...!"_ Smoker muttered as he got back up again bleeding and bruised all over as his opponent walked forward, having taken some hits as well but not slowing down at all. _Why can't I put this guy down?!_

Kuroobi raised an eyebrow as he stopped a short distance away. "Again you rise... Your toughness and tenacity are worthy of praise."

Panting, the Captain sheathed his jitte on his back. "You're the last person I want to hear that from! White Snake!" Turning his arm to smoke, he extended the plume forward in a serpentine fashion that the fishman eyed wearily.

Rather than respond, the fishman simply stood still as he awaited the arm to come to him. After snaking about him, the trail finally charged him with a fist aimed for the back of his neck. "A fair attempt, but no good." Sidestepping instead of blocking, he ran towards the Devil Fruit user and declared, "Wantō Giri!" as he followed the trail, slashing it apart with his cutlass and striking each part with his fin.

Despite the immense amount of pain and damage the assault was dealing, the Marine officer held his ground before turning his entire body into smoke. "White Spark!" Barreling towards Kuroobi, he surrounded him entirely before trying to barrage him with fists from all around. "Just go down already!"

"You first..." the martial artist replied as he withstood the rain of blows and sheathed the sword. "It seems you've not yet learned your own lessons about arrogance. Is it coincidence...?"

"What nonsense are you mumbling to yourself now?" Smoker's echoed around him as the blows continued, now adding kicks and knees to punches and elbows.

"Perhaps you'll see once this fight is over, Smoker-Taisa..." the ray fishman smiled as he closed his eyes. "With you spread all over the place, you're wide open."

Seeing him still standing there, Smoker reformed behind him with his jitte ready to swing when suddenly the weapon was pulled right from his hands. "What?"

Kuroobi chuckled as he turned around in a flash with his eyes still closed, the Captain's weapon hanging from his ponytail. "Predictable... This is the end. Gyojin Karate: Senmaigawara Seiken!" Sending his fist out, the smoke shuddered as it collided into Smoker's face before he and the whole cloud were sent flying into one of the harbor buildings.

Walking over to the destruction, the fishman confirmed that Smoker had lost consciousness before leaning his jitte on the rubble tip-down. "Even amidst water or the sea, Seastone sticks out like a sore thumb. Look over yourself and harden your resolve, Taisa. Otherwise you won't be able to protect anything, just as we failed years ago to protect our captain."

Looking up at the rain, Kuroobi sighed as he felt the water trickle down his form. "Where did we go wrong, Tiger...? Was Jinbe right...? Does Arlong's anger truly make us weak?"

"Gyojin Karate...!"

"Hmm...? Was that...?" The grey fishman turned at the echoed sound of—

"...Samehada Shōtei (Fishman Karate: Sharkskin Palm Block)!"

Kuroobi leapt up the rubble to the rooftops, now certain of what he heard. _That sounded like it was coming from where Arlong was. But there aren't any shark fishwomen on our crew, so who could it be...?_ Running across, he quickly moved to investigate the sounds of battle.

—-—-—

(Meanwhile — Eastern Harbor — Koala vs Arlong)

"Gyojin Karate: Samehada Shōtei!"

"GAH!"

"I'm sorry!" Koala cried as Arlong skewered another Marine, having unintentionally caused the injury by deflecting his nose from stabbing her instead.

"Reporting to all troops! Saw-Tooth Arlong and Kaijōsei Koala are fighting in the Eastern Harbor Square! I repeat—!" The nearby sound system was silenced as an unconscious Marine went flying into it hard.

"Tooth Gum!" Arlong called out as he swung a set of his teeth in his hands and tried to dig into her with the deadly chompers. "We should never have taken you in in the first place!" The sawshark yelled as he continued his assault, paying no mind to the Marines that got caught as they tried to apprehend the two of them. "How stupid, the things that we do... Like mother, like daughter: the scum of the sea!"

Koala blew back her hair derisively before ducking another strike and rolling out for some distance. "You call me the scum of the sea, but you and I both know that it's the Tenryūbito that really fit that moniker! Gyojin Karate: Karakusagawara Seiken!" Throwing her fist out that visibly distorted the rain, the Marines were slowly inched backwards before being launched painfully back in a shockwave while Arlong simply guarded his face with his arms and held his ground.

"Wrong technique, you damn human!" Arlong shouted before crouching on the ground. "Shark on Darts!" Launching himself out at her, the martial artist barely rolled safely out of the way—loosing a bit of her skirt to his solid nose as he ran a dozen Marines through. "And what do you think those bastards represent? They _are_ the world incarnate!"

The brunette sighed at her dress before turning back to her opponent. "First of all it's called training, you ido—WOAH!" Ducking at the last second, Arlong sailed right over her and took out a trio of Marines that were sneaking up on her.

Standing up, Arlong went on as he snapped the pairs of teeth in his hands. "The World Government is the standard for which the world is set, and it's the cesspool of humanity's filth!" The fishman launched another barrage of swings at the former slave as the rant continued. "Humans can't do anything on their own, but together they leave a world that's tortured and ruined!"

"I don't see you helping make it a better place, Arlong!" Koala chastised back as she dodged and blocked the strikes while trying to counter with some strikes of her own, the two not scoring any solid hits, "You talk big about conquering the world and all the problems it has, but at the end of the day you just want revenge for Tiger's death!"

"And you don't?" Arlong raised his voice even louder as he missed to the right and smashed a Marine's arm, leaving the teeth to grab another from his mouth before he spoke further, "The fishman who saved your life is dead by these bastards' hands and you won't avenge his passing? That's what is wrong with your ungrateful race!"

"You're wrong, Arlong!" the martial artist shouted back as she missed a low sweeping kick, knocking down another five troops with the aftershock of water vapor, "I honor Tiger's memory by living by the morals he taught me, the good in the world that he left behind!"

The sawshark fishman spat at that from the air, sending another Marine flying as it made contact when his target dodged. "What 'good' left behind? All he left behind was a grudge against the humans that wronged him..." He seemed to pause with his landing as a group of Marines took aim and fired their rifles.

At the last second he crouched and leapt with another call of, "Shark on Darts!" as he dodged the bullets and ran the shooters through with his hardened nose. Turning back to the brunette, she recognized the residual moisture of tears wiped away as he yelled back to her. "He cursed the humans that he couldn't forgive!"

Koala let her eyes widen as her features hardened in focus. "Is that the truth then?" she spoke lowly but well enough so he could hear her, while the Marines about them froze at the coldness with which she spoke. "After all these years of reciting that lie you told to the Marines at G-2, is that supposed to be the truth that you've been hiding from the world?"

Those words seemed to hold Arlong back rather than launching himself off as he rose. "What? How do you know about G-2?"

"They've both stopped, take them down!" another Marine cried as he and six others charged with weapons aimed for the former slave's limbs form behind. "Headquarters wants them both alive!"

The vein on her head grew more pronounced as she shouted back. "We're having a moment here, butt out!" Whipping her hands back as if reloading her punches, the Marines behind her were blasted back as a force of wind and water slammed into them, breaking weapons and slamming them into the ocean beyond.

The surrounding Marines faltered a bit at that. "Damn, they're just brushing us off like flies!" one of the Marines cursed before looking to the side, where Umizoui was shrugging off gunshots and charging through their ranks. "And that elephant is tearing us up before we can even get Kairōseki anywhere near it! How are we supposed to stop these monsters?!"

"I was there, you bastard!" Koala responded to Arlong as tears slid down her own face. "When you came back to Foolshout Island, I stowed away to try and save you!"

"Don't fuck with me!" Arlong shouted back as he gathered two handfuls of water to throw at his own group of attackers, "You were safe with your filthy human family, rejoicing in your freedom while Tiger bled for your treachery!"

"You think I _wanted_ Tiger to die?" she rumbled with fury as her hands clenched so tight that her nails drew blood. "You think I figured out what my people had done and _rejoiced?!_"

One of the Marines nearby gritted his teeth as he took aim with a large bazooka. "Screw alive, this bitch is dead!" Firing the weapon, the explosive detonated on contact, only for the target to appear behind him with her hand on the device. "No way...!"

"_I was fucking __**livid! Soshāku**__**(Rough Shark Mastication)!**_" With a tightening of her grip the bazooka shattered into pieces, exploding the ammunitions still loaded inside blowing the Marine back while the brunette didn't even flinch. "I hadn't been home for more than an hour when some plad-wearing kid tried to befriend me with some _racist bullshit!_"

Arlong couldn't help but laugh at that as he . "Shahahaha! Like parents like kids, they teach their children to hat—!"

"Yeah, and it _fucking sucks!_" Koala agreed with pain in her voice as she brought her hands to her dress, drawing water from it into a sphere about each of them. "I didn't just nod my head and forget all our time together—I punched his damn face in! Gyojin Jūjutsu: Mizugokoro—Bakusame (Fishman Jūjitsu: Water Heart—Exploding Shark)!"

Slamming her fists through the cobblestone, the water exploded out beneath a huge group of the Marines throwing them sky high towards the ocean. "Mother was so..." The brunette struggled with her words as she tried to restrain her rage. "...so embarrassed that her little girl... 'stood up for the... _things_ that _hurt_ her... how could _I_ stand up for _them?!_' she said!"

"And then," she continued as she ripped her hands from the ground, "while I was waiting grounded in my room, I heard the sounds of laser beams in the distance."

"Laser beams...?" Arlong repeated before his own memory sparked. "That Borsalino...!"

"Not just him, either," the former slave elaborated, "The sounds of explosions, gunfire... That's when I knew. I recognized the sound I had heard that day, while the village celebrated my return..."

Staring Arlong in the eye, Koala couldn't help but cry as she recalled her feelings of the past. "I heard sound of gunshots ring out as Tiger was attacked. I _heard_ him being _killed_, and my village... my mother **lied to me!** They traded your lives for mine—my life which was worthless if not for yours!"

The sawshark fishman simply stood and listened. _Does she really feel that badly about Tiger's death? And yet she keeps holding back this deep anger inside...why?_

"That day... Everyday since then, I've struggled to earn back the life I lost that day, that life that died with Tiger!" Slapping her hands together, the air gained weight and pressured down upon everyone, with only the two pirates unaffected as the woman narrowed her eyes. "And do you know the first thing I had to do, trying to be worth that life? I got some of that bloody vengeance you talk about so much..."

Arlong couldn't help but widen his own eyes before he focused in. "What do you mean?"

"Didn't you ever wonder why I had such a high starting bounty, but my crimes were never announced?" Koala chuckled before giving Arlong a slanted stare. "Or did you not even know that I became a pirate?"

"What are you trying to say?"

"I don't really care if you heard about me or not... As for the crime, well..." the former slave paused, her own eyes lowered for a moment as she tried to find the words. "I didn't even know what I'd done at first—I wasn't really myself at the time... One of the Tenryūbito... that old bastard... died by my hands."

—-—-—

(Meanwhile — Alley Off of Main Street — Tashigi and Mashikaku vs Eric)

_Got to line up a clean shot...!_ Tashigi thought as she stumbled back to her feet panting. Her shirt and coat were falling apart, revealing heavy bruising and a few cuts to her gut along with a trail of blood seeping from her chest.

"Tashigi-Sōchō!" Behind her with rifle still cocked, Mashikaku called out to his superior.

"I'm fine," she tried to reassure him "just keep him in your sights!"

The Seaman First Class grimaced but held his rifle steady. _She can't take much more of this; the injury to her breast reopened, and she's taking on a lot of damage._

The dark-haired swordswoman knew the same as he did, but both of them also knew that they couldn't give up. _Whatever else is going on, it's keeping Smoker and the others busy. We've got to take him down and support their efforts!_

At the same time their opponent stalked forward with hands flexed. Unlike her, the mercenary didn't seem affected by the seeping blood within his suit from his previous defeat. "**Why won't you just die?**" Eric growled at them, "**Disappear from my sight so I can kill **_**Kaijōsei!**_" Dashing towards them, he launched his right hand out to run the female Marine through.

Deflecting the stab and subsequent flow of wind with her blade, Tashigi turned Shigure slightly as she moved to slice into his arm. In response, the Whirlwind twisted his own hand about and drew it back with broken claws ready to catch it and plant themselves into her face.

"Shit!" Bracing herself as he pushed back against the katana, she held out long enough for the distortions in the air to blow her back from him. Letting out a gasp of pain as the failed wind attack managed to still slice partially into her breastplate, she caught herself on the wall and tried to work through the pain that now heightened in her chest.

"**Grrr... Persistent bitch!**" Eric swore spitefully as she failed to collapse.

_Even if he isn't aware that his hands aren't cutting with precision, they're still effective at dealing damage..._ the sword wielder thought as she stared down her opponent, trying to grip the hole in the wall to help herself up. _Wait... Holes?_ Looking at her hand and then the walls, a plan came to form as she steadied her breathing. _These are from when he caught himself on the wall; let's hope their solid enough!_

With newfound purpose, the sōchō leapt up the wall using the stab marks from Eric as footholds to rise far above the purple-haired man, much to his own pleasure as he drew his hand to his face. "**Fool! I'll have you sliced to ribbons before you land! Kama Kama no...!**"

Tashigi grinned as she raised Shigure over her head. "Now! Fire!"

"Roger that!" Before the mercenary could stop whispering over his hand, Mashikaku fired a shot that went through the open bleeding hole in his hand and straight into his throat, causing him to choke and cough up blood as his hand went to grip his new injury. From the other end, Mashikaku couldn't help but pump his fist in victory at his own shot. "Direct hit! Finish him, sōchō!"

Looking up in pain, Eric's eyes actually widened to open for the first time as Tashigi descended upon him with her sword swinging down too fast for him to block. "Take this! Suichō Shobun (Grounding the Wader)!"

Landing right in front of him, the sword's blade was behind its wielder in an instant—the blood from her attack thrown from the blade to the ground. In that instant, Eric crumpled to the ground, the slice from his left shoulder across to his gut opening to reveal its decreasing depth of puncture as the light faded from his open eyes. The instant he collapsed, Tashigi followed him to the ground clutching her legs.

"Tashigi-Sōchō!" Mashikaku ran over to his superior, rifle discarded as he kneeled down to her. "Are you alright?"

Panting, the Marine woman pushed herself against the alley wall. "I think I fractured a bone in my leg. I put too much stress on it earlier and then I pulled this stunt..."

The Seaman couldn't help but grin before scooping her up in his arms. "If that's all you have to complain about, then you'll be fine with a bit more proper care."

"H-h-h-h-hey!" Tashigi stammered in embarrassment, "Put me down, Ittōhei!"

Mashikaku shook his head, knowing how stubborn she could be about this kind of thing. "You said it yourself that you fractured something in your leg, and you expect me to let you _walk_, Sōchō?"

Blushing, the dark-hared woman looked away with a pout. "Well, yes, but—!"

"No buts," he interjected, using his foot to flip his rifle off the ground and onto his back. "I'm taking you in to get treatment."

"F-fine..." Tashigi mumbled, face steaming up behind her bangs as she sheathed her sword properly.

Grinning, Mashikaku couldn't help but let a bit of color grow on his own face as he saw how embarrassed she was. _S-so cute... Man, I can't believe I caught my rifle! I never thought I'd manage to look that cool—and in front of Tashigi-Sōchō too!_

"Hey, Mashikaku..."

Her voice interjected into the Marine's thoughts, breaking him out of his daze to address her. "Yes, Sōchō?"

"You said you'd explain later: what's going on back at the port?"

—-—-—

(Meanwhile — Eastern Harbor — Koala vs Arlong)

For once, Arlong simply let go and stood there dumbfounded at the revelation. "You... You killed a Tenryūbito...?"

Koala nodded, still keeping eye contact while she spoke tearfully. "I was so ashamed of what my mother—my _home_—had done... I just kept on running, scraping by on what skills I could gleam from that book of Jinbe's..."

"Jinbe's...? That manual for Fishman Karate he was writing? You found it in the wreckage?" That was almost more surprising than the last revelation for the fishman. _She picked up Fishman Karate this well from Jinbe's _book?_ It wasn't even complete yet!_

"Eventually I made it out to Sabondy Archipelago, and that's where _he_ found me." Her words slowed down even as the pressure continued to build, weighing the Marines down and keeping them from interfering. "He recognized me from my... master's collection... His guard detail managed to corner little old me in an abandoned building in the Lawless Groves... Of course he chose to go in alone, so sure of his superiority. He wanted a _taste_ of his fellow's _property_...!"

"After all the years of avoiding that fate, being free... I knew it was all over..." Koala closed her eyes and took a deep breath before locking back on Arlong with a grim stare. "And then the next thing I know, his life is _fading_ from his eyes, blood gurgling down his face between my fingers at this throat...! I'm out again, and suddenly I'm on a Marine warship headed for Enies Lobby for _murder_."

"What...?"

The brunette gripped her head with one hand as the pressure spiked, sending some Marines to their knees. "For years later, I've had those blanks, and while I don't know who I become during them, I know that horrible things always happen... and it's all so hollow... Vengeance is just _worthless_!" With her last shout, the pressure _turned_ and threw the onlookers outwards, most of them crashing into the ocean while an unlucky few hit things on the way and taking injuries.

"So don't tell me what it means to honor Tiger..." she growled out as she walked towards Arlong, who was now clenching his own fists, "because you sully his name when you speak it in _vengeance!_"

"Shut up!" he shouted back, tears now threatening to fall from his animalistic eyes as he started throwing water at her again. "You know nothing! Tiger should have lived that day, and he refused to take your filthy human blood! He died because deep down he couldn't open himself to humans... _And yet he talked of __**you!**_"

"Wh-what? Urk...!" Distracted by the statement, the martial artist stopped dodging long enough for one of the shots to strike her in the stomach.

"After all that talk, giving up on living... he didn't think of any of us!" Arlong cried as he ran towards her, teeth in hand once again as he made to kill her. "His friends, his nakama, his race! _All he could think about was you! _It made me **SICK!**"

"Arlong..." Koala muttered in surprise as she stood herself back up despite her tears and defended herself from his attacks. "I... I always—!"

"No more words... No more words! It's a time that is dead!" Arlong spat as he continued to use his natural weapons to try and end her life. "This is where we stand, Koala, at the turning of the years. There is nothing else left that we share; one of us dies here, and all's fair!"

"That's not true at all, Arlong!" she exclaimed as they both pushed each other back. "I—"

But Arlong had already stopped listening to her, talking as if she were mute. "Either kill me, and live the life you think would make Tiger proud... or die by my hand, and after you I'll kill them all—every last human will be wiped face of this miserable world!"

Through the tears, the martial artist managed to squeeze out one word. "No..."

"What...?

"You never got it..." Koala chuckled ruefully, "Tiger's own words... 'We won't kill anyone!' If I want to live in his name, then I follow his path. I won't kill you!"

"Then die! Shark on Tooth!" Opening his mouth wide, Arlong spun in a circle as he launched out to shred her to pieces.

Readying her stance, she focused her mind as she intoned the name of her attack. "Gyojin Karate: Samegawara...!"

Hearing her declaration, the sawshark grew angrier. "First Shōtei and then Soshāku, making fools out of us...!" he yelled as he approached, "What kind of shark do you think you are, you human trash?!"

"Only a kasusame (angel shark; kasu—dregs)... Arlong!" Before he could reach her, she launched her fist out at him—and with it came a visible ripple of force that smashed into him, completely stopping his forward momentum before launching him back through the cobblestone wall of one of the harbor buildings. "...Seiken! (Fishman Karate: Shark Tile True Punch)!"

Letting her fist down, Koala clutched her chest as she coughed heavily, blood trickling down her mouth. "Damn... A handful of water from a shark fishman really isn't a joke..." Panting, she wiped her mouth and straightened up as she turned to Umizoui who was walking over with Kiribachi. "Still, I feel better winning this way: not needing to resort to Rokushiki against a fishman is a good achievement. Could you give me a lift over to him, buddy? I'd rather not waste the energy using Soru this exact second."

As the elephant-kusarigama lifted her up with its trunk, they heard a hack inside the building. "Shahaha... To think, you had a whole other bag of tricks up your sleeve... Hard to compete against that."

"I'd have rather we not fought at all, Arlong-san," the brunette replied as she was brought into view of him, buried in some rubble and heavily bruised. "Like I was saying... If any of you had asked, I would have joined up as a Sun Pirate in an instant."

"Heh...You say that easily now because your mother betrayed you..." Arlong reasoned, pushing some rubble from him slowly but with a difficulty that showed he wasn't up for more fighting.

The former slave gave a small smile. "I thought that too at first, but... If you guys had asked, I definitely would have given it some serious thought. What hurt about Mom's betrayal the most was that underneath it was what I was expecting. Spending years of slavery makes you doubt everything you've known before."

Arlong shook his head at that. "You certainly think these things through... That epithet—what was it again—?"

"Kaijōsei," Koala supplied.

"—Kaijōsei..." the sawshark fishman chewed mentally on it for a moment "I figure Kaijō means 'maritime', and jō probably means 'woman'... Do you fancy your self a sei-nt?"

"For one," she replied in a lecturing tone as she wrote symbols in the air, "it's a play on 'kaiōsei', or Neptune—so to answer your question, it's the kanji for star. Second, jō is specifically 'unmarried woman', as compared to josei. And lastly the Marines are the ones who officially came up with it, but I took the liberty of... _hinting_ at it. Besides, all three have such well-mixing kanji to use, it's quite—"

Arlong chuckled as he removed another piece of rubble. "Yes, yes, it's got a lot of meanings... As I thought, Fishman Karate isn't the only thing you picked up from that book of Jinbe's."

Koala blushed for a moment before shaking it out. "If you see him around, let him know I'm out here, will you? Getting these guys to raise my bounty higher is like learning about the Void Century sometimes, if you know what I mean..."

"Is that why you became a pirate?" he questioned as he leaned up against the wall, "To get Jinbe's attention?"

"By the time the idea came to my head, I was well on my way to piracy without really trying. And yes, we all get it now: I inherited Jinbe's love of wordplay," she chuckled back before letting a more serene expression grace her features. "In a way it was like reliving the old days, as if Uncle Tiger was still with us. And I guess... I hoped I might find that place that I belonged to, just like I always hoped Fishman Island would find a place for you all and the world for Fishman Island."

"Tch... You've got grand ideas like Jinbe too," Arlong commented without malice. "What's your big next goal, bring peace to the whole world?"

"Zaahahahaha!" the former slave laughed shaking her head. "What are you talking about? I'm just a lowly pirate who's nothing compared to those monsters in the Grand Line. I've got plenty more training I'll have to put under my belt before I can do anything earth-shaking like that..."

The pirate captain let out a laugh of his own as he shifted his body what little it could. "Still, you really got me good: I can't really get away from the Marines like this."

The brunette smiled widely at that, signaling for Umizoui to return to its weapon form about her waist as she gestured behind her. "Oh don't worry about that, you've got reliable friends of your own to help you with that." Cupping her hand to her face, she called out while her other hand took the zanbatō from the vanishing mouth. "Isn't that right, Chew? Kuroobi?"

Almost on cue, the two remaining Arlong Pirate Officers ran over from where they were watching the final part of the battle unfold, quickly moving to help their captain up. "Sorry, Arlong-san," Kuroobi began as he took the shark fishman's right arm, "I let my guard down as I watched you fight..."

"We've taken the warship without too many problems," Chew continued as he took the left, "but we'll have to get going soon before the Marines rally again..."

Nothing but the rain and wind was heard as the two fishmen shared glances between the woman before them and one another before the ray fishman spoke. "Koala... I... We..."

Grabbing her own head, Koala couldn't help but laugh at their awkwardness. "Come on, get out of here," she managed to get out amidst her levity with a light 'shoo' motion as she handed them Kiribachi, "It's all water under the bridge, but the bridge is crumbling and you better get your boat out from under it!"

Nodding as Chew took the weapon, they started carrying their leader away before she called back to them. "Oh, one more thing! What happened to Hatchan and Nami?"

Kuroobi flinched visibly at the latter before turning to reply. "Hachi somehow managed to escape custody, probably because he passed out underwater from how Arlong tells it. As for Nami... I assume she joined that Straw-Hat, considering he and his crew fought us for her."

Koala blinked. "Wow... Really...?" _If Luffy were smarter, I'd say he was trying to lure me into your crew... Can it be coincidence...?_ "Thanks for that..."

The grey fishman didn't turn back, however. "Koala—"

"If you want to talk later, meet me at Warship Island in a week," she interrupted her fellow martial artist. "Right now you need to bail and quick. Go!" Pushing them forward, she made a dash for the city streets herself, still choosing not to stress her body with Rokushiki.

_Well... That turned out _way_ better than I expected, considering we fought,_ Koala thought rather stressfully as she ran down the streets of Loguetown. _Probably better I not find out what Arlong did to Nami or anything else until I can get some more medicine anyways. Knowing him, it probably wasn't too pretty..._

_Still, it was nice seeing those guys again... _Smiling a bit, Koala looked up as the storm started to clear as the sun shone down on her. _Uncle Tiger... I guess even you had trouble forgiving, but you still managed to help me. I can only hope that Arlong and the guys can be so fortunate..._

—-—-—

"Kaijōsei, huh...?"

"Hmmm?" Chew toned in, hearing Arlong mutter, "What is it, Arlong-san?"

"Nothing... Just thinking about Jinbe, I guess." Turning to his other officer, the sawshark asked him, "Sei can mean 'epoch', right?"

"Yeah, I suppose so," Kuroobi answered thoughtfully, "Why?"

"And Kaijō can be 'reform' or 'change'..." Grinning, he righted his hat as he chuckled, "A Kaijōsei wouldn't... be bad these... days..."

* * *

><p>Techniques (and Specific Translations)<p>

Sabi Kabe (Rust Wall; 錆壁). With high amounts of moisture in the air, the user throws a rusting object and manipulates the process to spread the rust into a weak but effective defensive partition.

Umizoui (Wading Through The Tides of Life; 海耝有為). A kusarigama that ate the Zō Zō no Mi and became an Elephant-Kusarigama, it's Koala's longstanding partner in battle. Being a living creature, Koala has spent a lot of time training with Umizoui and has managed to instill the basics of Fishman Karate onto the animal-weapon—enough to be able to replicate her own skill using its body as a conduit without taking a lot of damage.

Gyojin Karate: Umizoui—Zanzō (Fishman Karate: Umizoui—Elephant of Balance; 魚人空手: 海耝有為—残象). A triple-feint attack, Koala throws one kama in the shadow of the other while she shifts enough of the chain close to the opponent, so that Umizoui can change into elephant or hybrid form quickly for a surprise attack from another angle. Channeling the force through water in the air or the enemy, bodily contact with any of the hits will deal a lot of internal damage. The name is is a play on words, as 'zanzō' itself means 'afterimage', but 'zan' alone can mean 'balance'.

Gyojin Jūjutsu: Mizugokoro—Bakusame (Fishman Jūjitsu: Water Heart—Exploding Shark; 魚人空手: 海耝有為—残象). A technique designed to work with low-level skill in Fishman Jūjitsu, this technique takes the core of water and explodes it upwards from below the ground all around the user.

Suichō Shobun (Grounding the Wader; 水鳥処分). An overhead slice across the body, this technique relies on putting one's whole weight behind the diagonal draw as if to bifuricate. By pulling the blade back mid-slice, the damage becomes more varied and thus harder to recover from even with medical care.

Kaijōsei (Goddess of the Sea, Neptune—海娘星; Epoch of Change—改定世).

* * *

><p><strong>Whew! 4 chapters released in the span of a month... Setting the bar high much, me? Still kinda surprised I managed to write the whole of this one already. Inspiration churning like crazy, play performance is going great, plenty of relaxation time between... If only the rest of my life could work out so nicely and neatly. Ah well, such is life.<strong>

**Well, I'm gonna take a break before I write Chapter 6 to do something I ought to/can finally do: post reviews on a bunch of stories I've read. It didn't really phase me before, but I realized I can finally post reviews on all authors now that I'm not an anon, which was a huge turn-off for me way-back-when.**

**When you spend 5-10 minutes writing a review only to **_**then**_** be told you can't post it, it dampens the enthusiasm. But the whole 'do-unto-others-as-you-want-done-to-yourself' thing is pretty important too. I'm no review-driven writer, but it's nice to read afterwards and respond; also, concrit is gold. Anyways, hope the ride continues to prove enjoyable; until next time!**


	6. Chapter 6: Making Up For Lost Time

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. Have you _seen_ my work ethic? Granted I'm juggling a lot of work this summer, inspiration was difficult, not the same medium, etc. etc., but that doesn't change the fact that I went two months without an update. Oda had friggin' tonsil surgery and he only stopped for two weeks. _HUGE difference_. I simply don't compare. I can't even say I planned the chapter title for this—it was what I had originally titled it!

Same thing with the new watercolor cover art, really: I commissioned it from Jiayi (deviantArt) at Anime Expo (2014) and she blew me away both in skill and speed; I felt like I was messing it up just getting it scanned to the computer (It came out brighter for some reason!)! Thank you so much once again!

**alittlebitlate (not as late as me...)—I distinctly remember Arlong constantly shooting the breeze and passing insults around as he fought the Straw-Hats, and along with his words and actions preceding and following Tiger's death interpreted him as a very talkative character.**

**Now take that—where he only really knew Nami, and the rest of Luffy and co. were practically strangers, yet he still chatted with them a bunch—and put him up against the person that he heavily blames for Fisher Tiger's death, who also is making a mockery of his culture by imitating his race with Gyojin Karate. That was my thought process. Though I'm not quite sure which exact spot you thought came out OoC. I think I know, but it's a guess really.**

**As to your other inquiry, well...**

**Chapter 6: Making Up For Lost Time**

* * *

><p>On the hardwood table, the moonlight gave the ivory claw an otherworldly glow that easily cut through the darkness about it. Despite the worn bindings that made the necklace as such, its focal point remained ever sharp even as it dug into the table itself with the slightest of leanings. Across the room, the scent of feathers floated throughout the room.<p>

_Or at least the sound of the... smell of feathers...?_

(East Blue — Warship Island)

Apis cursed in her head as she broke from the trance and awoke fully. With Koala's advice and faith behind her, the young child had tried taking the power of the Hiso Hiso no Mi further than she'd previously believed possible. Considering the stellar results, she supposed she owed her friend for her newfound skill.

_Then again..._ she retorted to herself, rolling over in bed towards the table as she discarded her coverings, s_he probably didn't think that once I got better at using it that it'd be impossible to _turn off_..._

Letting out a sigh as she rose and donned the necklace, she reminded herself that it wasn't Koala's fault. How was she to know when she hadn't felt the troubles of Devil's Fruit firsthand? Thankfully Ryu-ji's claw didn't make many supernatural sounds during the night for her newfound hearing to pick up, but the dissonance between moonlight and claw-against-wood...

_Wait... Supernatural sounds have _dissonance...? _Ugh, never mind..._ Gripping her head in anticipation of the headache her powers warned her of, it caught her off guard regardless as she realized how she'd predicted it in the first place. _At least my ears don't seem to be taking extra strain from all this, just my brain trying to process it all._

Brushing a stray lock from her face as she walked, her mind ground to a halt and she froze in place to match. Retracing her steps, she recalled the last few moments as she rose from slumber, donned her necklace and walked across the room to the opposite window.

With her eyes _closed shut._

Playing with the idea of opening them, Apis quickly dismissed the idea as the shock wore away. _The ears are doing all the work—and fine good work to boot. For all I know, seeing with my eyes will just make it harder on my brain with two different kinds of information. So..._ A smile grew on her face as she leaned towards the sealed window and chuckled at the thought that came to her. "Let's _see_ what we can hear out that window, shall we?" Taking a deep breath, the native focused her mind towards using her power to see her home in a new light.

_First, the normal sounds: A light wind sweeping down from the mountain; waves calmly lapping against the coast; the silence of the night buried beneath the chirping of crickets and the sleeping breaths of life... Perhaps it's not yet visible, but the faintest growth in the sound of water lifting from the sea to the sky approaching means the sunlight spreads towards us over the Red Line down into the East Blue. For such a moonlit morning, the sun sounds like it's nearly here..._

_And beneath the surface... Wait... _Listening closely, the young girl's body straightened as she picked up on the unnatural sound from under the waves before opening the window. _That 'twist' of current shifting its path...! There's no mistaking where it will end up—a one-way path here to Warship Island!_

With rushed footsteps and a series of doors slamming, Apis bolted full-tilt out the door towards the coast, barreling down the hill and dodging trees with ease without a single peek of vision. _And there's only one person I know that can shift currents—only one who would be in East Blue at all!_ Mind resolute in her conclusion, she practically flew through the forest for all the resistance it gave her.

Suffice to say; when a brunette in a one-piece dress leapt from the ocean she was caught by surprise when her trajectory was suddenly on a collision course with her young friend.

She was more so when she was intercepted, let alone kicked back into the water.

With her momentum passed, the blond landed on her feet with ease before walking to the coast, hands folded as she waited for her older friend to resurface. "I know you're down there, Koala..." she muttered loudly after a moment as she scrunched her still-sealed eyelids in a mix of playful irritation and concentration. "Come on out. I'm not _really_ that mad at you; I just needed to get that out of my system."

Rather than answer in person, a lone bubble floated up to the surface and popped with a sound that she didn't need the Devil's Fruit to understand. "_Liar..._"

Shaking her head at her friend's antics, she began to reply, "And you know that _because..._" before hearing said friend echo her own word from behind her at the same time. Reflexively ducking, she smacked her own forehead against two outstretched fingers harder than either female intended as the brunette appeared without a single ripple in the water.

"Sorry, little miss whisper..." Koala chuckled as she messed with Apis' hair apologetically. "As I was saying though, I _know_ because I'm _awesome. Just. Like. You._" Grinning, she massaged her stomach where the kick landed and turned back to the ocean. "If you really want to come traveling with me, you should keep answering questions like that on your own." Giving only a grumble to reply, the younger of the two friends listened as her elder shook her hair spraying water about. The same couldn't be said for her dress, which somehow held the water within like the film of a bubble.

There was a distinct set of sounds, the Devil's Fruit user pondered with new understanding, that correlated with the martial artist's features beyond her specialty outfit. Compared to the others in the village, there was a tense yet flexible sound to her muscles that she assumed was her trained physique. Even without looking into her eyes, there was a roaring like the sea to her eyes that made the shade of dark blue to them ring true. But the sound that now drew her focus was the fading echo of burned flesh from her back...

"...Apis? Hello~?"

Snapping out of it, the blond had the honestly to look ashamed at her prying—though she didn't name it. "Sorry... You were saying?"

The brunette chuckled as she levying a pointed stare before shrugging it away. "I was _saying_... I'll tell you how I know if you'd like, but more importantly I'd rather you do something for me first."

Sighing, Apis simply conceded with a small nod. "Alright... What?"

"Could...Could you, um...grab your..."

"Huh...?" Opening her eyes, her glance looked to Koala's blushing expression, then herself, then her again as she scratched her cheek and averted her eyes off to the side behind her. Clicking into place, she slowly followed her gaze to the article of clothing hanging on a branch before coming back to her state of dress. Or rather... well...

"**KYAAAAAA!"**

...you get the idea...

—-—-—

The conflict that became known as the Loguetown Incident within the Marines (sadly they never really got too creative with names) was surprisingly unnoticeable in the current events. Certainly it was discussed and there were important outcomes, but most Marines were more interested in the status of their fellow comrades and where they stood in the fight for Justice. With Captains Smoker and Shū coming out with only wounded prides, the civilians safe and sound, and no resounding pirate victory other than their escape, there wasn't much that drew interest to the skirmish in East Blue.

For the civilians, the Loguetown Incident didn't trickle down to them. At most, a person of the city would be one of those caught in the square during its takeover by the Buggy Pirates. Beyond that, the escape of the Arlong Pirates and the combat that followed went hidden from the average townsfolk. A small few knew more than they'd tell, but the connection between a barkeep, a sword shopkeeper, a fish salesman, and a young girl was never uncovered—those who might have like Tashigi were aboard with Smoker.

Nelson Royale's deposition from command and the subsequent rising of Hardy to Chūsa was of more interest to most of them in the wake of Morgan's arrest and Pudding Pudding's death. With the explosion of demotion and death in the East Blue corps, scrutiny soon led to the same for Nezumi—who among other things was held responsible for the string of Marine deaths including the late commodore at Arlong's hands. The now former Captain was subsequently seen as the cause of the Loguetown Incident by leaving Smoker and Shū unprepared for the pirate crew's true strength, sweeping the remaining unknowns beneath the traitorous rat's growing list of crimes.

Shū was surprisingly quiet in the aftermath, especially compared to his fellow Captain. His own near drowning was barely a concern compared to the large loss of Marine lives from Arlong's opening gambit: After personally apologizing to families, he immediately went back to headquarters for more training.

Smoker, on the other hand, was taking the escape especially hard—which to his benefit meant no one really complained when he went into the Grand Line after Straw-Hat Luffy. He and his men were redoubling their training as they went out to Paradise. That is, except for—

"Mashikaku! Where's Tashigi?" The White Chaser of Loguetown shouted across the deck of the ship as the Ittōhei and his fellows continued their training under the harsh sun of the Calm Belt.

Tilting his head up to see his superior, the square-jawed man spoke with only slightly strained breaths as he continued to do push-ups. "She's been in her room since we left, Taisa. We figured she wanted some time alone, not to mention she's still recovering from her injuries, and—"

Sighing, Smoker puffed out a plume of smoke as he bid for him to stop. "I should have known... She finally made her first kill, huh...?"

"Not only that, sir..." Mashikaku began, "But the way she cut into him was rather...gruesome... Eventually the adrenaline wore off after the Arlong Pirates escaped, and that's when she noticed all the blood on her and remembered." He paused, looking down at the ground as his pace slowed down in thought. "Last we checked in on her she'd thrown her glasses across the room; I doubt it's an improvement from obsessively trying to make them not smell like it..."

"I'd congratulate her on taking down that persistent assassin wanna-be," Smoker spoke up with a shake of his head, "but that'd be the opposite of what she'd want to hear right now."

"Captain... I..."

Turning back to find his subordinate stopped, he saw the Ittōhei's tears soaking into the deck below him. "I'll train harder, and become strong enough... I won't fail again!" Starting his workout again with fervor, he kept going as he finished, "Next time, I'll protect her!"

Walking back towards the other men, the Taisa muttered under his breath as he drew his jitte for practice. "Idiot. Next time, she'll protect herself." If only he felt more confident than he sounded. _It's better if she makes a decision on her own, while she still has her options before her,_ he told himself as he shifted into a fighting stance._ It's far easier to walk away while you're part of the Infantry and Sailor Division; once your commissioned, you're tied to the Marines for better or worse._

Unbeknownst to the Marines outside, the woman in question had been watching the training session blurrily from her window. Managing to make out Smoker's face, she caught the quick flash of emotion that none of the other Marines would have recognized. _Worry..._ Turning back to face the dark of her room, she slumped against the wall, her hands clutched against her bandage-wrapped chest.

"Even Smoker is worried... And they're all working hard to improve..." Tashigi sniffed to try and hold back her tears with little success as they slid down her face, the salty fluids stinging as they slid over the slightest trace of the cut across her upper lip. Painful as it was, the attack was shallow enough that once healed wouldn't leave a mark—much the same as the gash on her back. "And yet I keep thinking of him... _killing him_... It makes me feel so dirty..."

"_You complain about being a woman swordsman, but you're still all talk! You're just a naïve little brat who hasn't had to deal with any of life's hardships!"_

The dark-haired Marine winced at the memory of those words, unable to shake the lingering doubt that they resonated with in her mind. "Naïve... Have I really been this weak? I wanted to reclaim Meitō from villains and pirates, but I can't even stomach killing one lowlife. No matter how you look at it, good or evil: a true swordsman would rather die than live defeated."

"_Doesn't really sound like you want to die,_ Tashigi-Sōchō..._"_

"In the moment of danger, I fear death; killing someone shakes my mind apart; and to top it off, I've already brought shame down upon me... Can I really call myself a true swordsman?" Collapsing down into her knees as she began to cry in earnest, Tashigi recognized the feeling of wallowing in her own sorrows.

"_You think it's hard being a woman wielding a sword? Try being a _slave_ for a few years and get back to me on how being a woman works out for you!"_

Though she flinched through the tears as the former slave's words echoed in her head again, the Sōchō decided that she'd cry about her own woes just this one last time—now that they were considerably more complicated than she had ever imagined.

—-—-—

(Meanwhile — Warship Island)

Whatever Apis had been thinking would happen that morning when she woke up, her best friend showing up hours before daybreak didn't rank high on the list of possibilities, and it most certainly didn't include said best friend working her into the ground with physical exhaustion.

The smell of sweat, she noticed while lying upon the ground, was somehow sweet compared to its salty aftertaste on her tongue. Beyond the sheen, the wind swept the heat from her brow and limbs as the unfamiliar fabrics of her borrowed tank top and shorts seemed to glide about her form in its wake. All of these thoughts were reinforced as her hearing matched her other senses, threatening to add another headache to her constitution.

_And yet... _the blond found herself thinking, _There's something peaceful here, lying in the grass by the coast._

Opening her eyes, she rose from the ground and stretched to the sky as Koala walked over. Compared to the martial artist's normal attire of tea-length dresses, the more casual ware that Apis now wore was a remnant of her friend's early attempts towards developing a wardrobe. Besides the stylistic difference, the dresses like the flowing black garment she wore now retained far more water than the mustard yellow and maroon duo.

On top of the privacy of the rocky coast, the brunette had gone out of the way—despite her claims to the contrary—to dye the clothes in two of her primary colors, both of which helped the younger girl feel less awkward in the hand-me-downs. Still, it was clear that her usual outfits were ill sewn for her friend's physical demands.

Taking a moment to straighten the teal ribbon that held her braid together, Apis slowed the deep breaths that had become the subconscious backbeat of the intense workout to question her taskmaster. "Will you tell me what this is for _now_? The sun isn't even up yet, you know..."

"Only because you live in a place where Warship Island blocks the sunrise," Koala teased as she ruffled her friend's hair again. She would have challenged the gesture, but the shuffle of cool air between her blond locks made the act refreshing enough to let it be as her senior continued. "That was an impressive display of endurance, Apis. I had no idea you were so athletic, though I suppose now you're back in your element instead of cooped up and in hiding."

"Thanks!" Apis beamed for a moment, then focused in on her inquiry with a squint. "But you still haven't explained what it's all for."

Sighing, the martial artist waved her back down to the ground. "Almost there, hold your horses; this next part is really important... Now, do you remember the stretches we warmed you up with?" Alongside a nod, her friend replied with a quizzical stare. "Now use them for a cool-down."

"How can these be that important?" Despite her continuing inquiries to the contrary, the native girl went to work on them as directed while she spoke. "I understand the purpose of cooling down after heavy exercise, but..."

Koala gave her own limbs a good stretch as she interjected, walking past Apis away from the ocean. "Your flexibility is the crucial part—one that you're particularly stupendous at, I might add—but the exercises themselves show your endurance and strength which will be important later on."

"The technique you are about to learn—one of six—may be the most important thing I will ever teach you, and is a skill that many people take for granted." The brunette muttered and chuckled off to the side, though Apis caught a few words with her hearing, "'No art,' my ass... Ha, ass," before she continued: "Anyways... As I mentioned to you when we were moving you back home, you being able to perform this skill to my satisfaction is the one condition you must fulfill to come with me."

The Devil's Fruit user looked up inquisitively as she held a cobra stretch from the ground. "I remember. Do you really want me to fight?"

Her best friend shook her head and turned back to face her. "I'd prefer if you never had to. More importantly, sailing the seas together with me means you'd be traveling with a pirate and puts you in a lot of danger and risk—not to mention your own involvement with the Marines. What I want you to be able to do is not get hurt. So for your protection, I'm going to hammer the basics into your mind and body until you use it without thinking."

"So what are you going to be teaching me?" Apis asked again with anticipation as she rose from the ground. "Out with it already!"

Silence held far longer than the younger girl needed to know her senior was being dramatic, until eventually she muttered, "Kami-E (Paper Sketch)."

"What?"

"Kami-E," Koala repeated slightly louder. "That is the technique I will be teaching you.

The blond blinked at the explanation, and more importantly the lack thereof. "Oooooookay...and that is...what, exactly?"

"As the name implies," her trainer began, clearly trying to hold a straight face as long as possible, "you must be as a paper sketch untouched as it darts away in the breeze. With flexibility and lithe muscle, you can avoid oncoming danger almost effortlessly."

"...soooo..." Apis droned as she processed the description twice to confirm the one word that she had boiled it down to. "...dodging..."

A tick mark vein pulsed on the brunette's head. "What...?"

"That's it?" she cried out, flinging her hands into the air. "After all that build-up and exercise and, the technique you're going to teach me is... how to dodge?"

"Is there a problem with dodging?" Koala ventured, trying to keep her composure.

"Yeah, because you're pulling my leg on this!" Pointing her finger right into her friend's face, she continued despite the focus of her attention balking. "You're clearly trying to keep yourself calm because it's ridiculous. Dodging?"

"I'm holding it in _because _you think it's a joke," she gritted through her teeth. "What is so ridiculous about it?"

Realizing she was telling the truth about the technique, the native let out an exasperated sigh. "You can't be serious right now!"

Folding her arms across her chest, her trainer's eyebrow twitched in anticipation of future irritation. "And why not?"

"Because I already _know_ how to dodge!" Apis mock-slapped herself in the head with a cry of, "Duh!" before turning away from her friend, only for her to already be waiting where she turned to.

"Not like this!" the martial artist lectured to her uncooperative pupil, leaping into her gaze with Soru as she repeatedly tried to avert it from her senior. "Stop knocking the technique before you've even seen it!"

Growing tired of the pursuit, the blond stopped avoiding her and held her ground. "I'd have already seen it if it was really so great, then!"

Throwing her would-be pupil off by not leaping in front of her, Koala leaned in on her shoulders with folded elbows. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well," she began her retort as she wriggled out and turned to face the brunette, "it's just you certainly put _your_ dodging prowess on display when I nailed you on arrival!"

Pointing straight between Apis' eyes, she levied a hard stare right back. "Well _excuse me_ for getting distracted when my attacker turned out to be my good friend, who was so intent on hitting me that they didn't even notice that they shredded up half of their nightgown on a tree and were half-naked!"

Silence held as both of them blushed but held their gazes locked as long as they could—their colors growing more flushed with every second passed. Eventually, a snort slipped out so quickly that neither party quite knew whom it belonged to. The dam burst, the two friends were quickly swept into roaring laughter as they collapsed to the ground.

Eventually Koala calmed herself down from rolling on the ground to look over to her junior, who was trying to get there as she clutched her chest. "I do mean it, though. Too many people give dodging too little credit and pay dearly for it. You have excellent flexibility, and though your strength isn't where I'd say the average trainee your age would be that won't matter until after you get Kami-E down; the rest can come later if you really want to pick them up."

Apis stared back from the ground skeptically as her senior pushed off and stood upright. "Even if I get really good at this... 'Kami-E'... I could still get hit if I don't hear the att... tack coming... at me..." The blond froze as realization caught up to her. "Oh."

"Exactly. I may have been embarrassed and caught off-guard, but I still noticed that your hearing skills have improved. So, Whisper-Woman..." the brunette began as she rolled her eyebrow around in exaggerated curiosity, offering a hand to the native to help her up, "How much better are we talking?"

Taking the assistance, she brushed herself off as she thought about the answer. "Well besides you being right about sea creatures, sounds from inanimate objects are audible without much effort now..." Eyes widening for a moment, she narrowed in with an irritated expression as she finished, "...which has made it _hard_ to sleep at nights..."

Her trainer sweated a bit herself before clapping her hands together and bowing before her. "My most humble apologies, Apis..."

The blond blushed and averted her gaze. _Damn you and your forward apologies!_ "M-motions of living things are coming out too, but it's nowhere near as natural right now—I have to concentrate first, and I don't always know what I'm listening for."

Humming, Koala looked up behind her friend for a brief instant before locking eyes with her once more, only increasing her curiosity. "What...?"

"I'm just thinking," she began, "that now's as good a time as any. Give it a shot: _see_ what you can hear."

"I already made that joke to myself earlier, thanks..." With a nod to the young woman—who was muttering about not getting a better reaction from the joke—Apis closed her eyes and listened around her in relative silence before suddenly snapping back. "There's a News Coo flying in behind me!"

"Aaaaaaaand...? How could you tell?"

Pausing, it dawned on the native and she leapt in surprise. "I heard the beat of its wings! I did it really quick, too!" Looking to the brunette as she grinned and flicked a coin up to the bird, the blond couldn't help but wonder, "How do you always seem to know what I need to do?"

"What? You think I just magically obtain the answers to your improvement?" the martial artist chuckled as she caught the paper without looking up to catch it. "Honestly, I'm just putting myself in your shoes and trying to think it out. Putting you on the spot meant you weren't preparing mentally for it, so perhaps you're thinking too much about it."

"Thinking too hard...?"

Ruffling her blond locks, Koala smiled warmly. "It's the same thing you're doing right now, about how you've made leaps and bounds? It's nothing complicated about me, you're just that good!"

Apis blinked at her. "Really...?"

"Hey, don't doubt yourself..." The older woman shook her head, unfolding the paper as she began to scan the headlines._ Hmmm...? This article...!_

—-—-—

(Meanwhile)

Despite its low initial impact, there were still some Marines who took notice of the discrepancies surrounding one particular pirate involved in the incident. Even with taking down Arlong who's bounty had been confirmed to be undervalued, and escaping the Marines' notice after using Loguetown as a base of operation in East Blue, Kaijōsei Koala was rarely mentioned in the events that took place, nor was her bounty increased for her victory despite Straw-Hat Luffy's getting pushed up an extra 15 million from where it was originally suggested.

Particularly, as one of the Marines who was involved with the trade of Koala's safety for the Sun Pirates, Strawberry-Chūjō (Vice Admiral) was quick to dig into the matter. Perhaps the information—being undiscovered—might have slowed the tide of change, but the small ripple was already on its course.

As it stood, the report was being crumpled in the hands of the Vice-Admiral's superior who was none too pleased with the findings. His own face shaded by his cap as the 'eyes' of the seagull-ornament atop it seemed to bore into his subordinate, he grunted out, "And you're sure these reports are correct?"

"Yes, Sengoku-Gensui (Fleet Admiral)," Strawberry replied, bowing only slightly so as to not bump his very long head into anything. "I had the Cipher Pols confirm the information."

(Grand Line, Paradise — Marineford)

Clenching his fist tighter the man known as Sengoku the Buddha gritted his teeth behind his curved mustache, anger withheld behind his round glasses as he threw the crumpled letter to the goat at his feet. "Raise her bounty..."

"Pardon...?"

Standing up in an instant, Sengoku's voice magnified three-fold. "Raise the bounty on Kaijōsei Koala, immediately!"

Strawberry bowed slightly lower as the goat began gnawing on the parchment. "Sir, if you read the information then you know—"

"Don't screw with me!" the Fleet Admiral shouted back hard enough that his braided beard shifted from his voice alone, "I don't care what the Tenryūbito want, that woman is more important for the Marines to take down than as some slave to those nobles!"

"I-Indeed, sir..."

Falling back into his chair, the leader of the Marines slammed his fist down on his desk. "Damn it... I'll have to try and talk to the Gorōsei, but I'd be better off bringing more to the table than just her..."

The Vice Admiral let the silence settle before he asked, "Should I gather some Marines to go after her?"

"No..." his superior replied after a pause with a reluctant sigh as he shifted his hat, "With the exception of her original crimes, this is the first time she's directly opposed the Navy without provocation. Considering that Nelson Royale seems to be the exception, and his corruption was unveiled in part due to her actions..."

The long-headed man's eyes widened as he stood at the statement. "Sir, what are you—?"

Sengoku's glare stopped his inquiry at once, allowing him to continue. "_For now..._ We'll simply keep tabs with the Cipher Pols. There are plenty of groups in our influence that still hold her as a priority target regardless, and I don't see that going away with her appearance in East Blue. In the meantime, she can simply be glad her bounty wasn't raised for now."

—-—-—

"Damn it..." Koala sobbed comically as she slammed her fist into the ground, "It's not funny anymore..." CRACK "I beat Arlong—" CRACK "—Eric—"

CRACK "Ummm, Koala-san..."

"—tons of starting-up rookies—" CRACK "—all with the Marines watching—"

CRACK "Are you—" CRACK "—alright? You, uh—" CRACK

"—and yet still—" CRACK "—my bounty still sits at a measly 14 Million..." CRACK "I'm still lower than Buggy the Clown!" CRACK

Apis could only stare at the strange mental breakdown occurring before her, not really sure how to go about cheering her friend up. "Hey, uh... I still think you...are a bigger...threat to the Marines...?"

*sniff* "You don't have to try and cheer me up, Apis," the brunette sighed tearfully, dusting off her black sundress. "I'll be okay."

"But...! You've got some..."

Looking down, she realized her hand and chest were bleeding. "Ah, this? I was swinging my hand so wide that I got some on me! I'm fine!" _She won't buy that as is, though, _she thought as she stood up. _It _is_ a good reminder to keep training—not knowing how I compare with _both_ styles means I can't be sure and get lax subconsciously—but I don't want her to worry._ "I just needed to get it out of my system, that's all."

"But that's why you became a pirate, isn't it?" the blond reasoned back before balking at her own lack of specificity, "Not hurting yourself, I mean... You're frustrated about the bounty, right? You want it to be high so that Kaikyō no Jinbe would take notice. That's why you took the bounty the Marines put on you in stride and became a pirate, right? It's important to you."

Snorting as she wiped her eyes, the martial artist giggled sarcastically. "For all the good it's done me... Yeah, it is. Thank you, Apis."

"Eh?" the East-born woman simply froze for a moment as her friend turned to her and wrapped her in a tight embrace before returning the gesture. "Um... You're welcome, Koala...?"

_Great Apis Distraction Plan: Successful~! _Koala pulled back from the hug with a bright smile. _No need to make her more worried when I can worry myself in my head; it's bad now, but it ought to be fine..._

"Wait..." Apis froze as a fragment from earlier finally sunk in. "Whisper-Woman?"

Dark-blue eyes glinted. "Took you way too long on the uptake, you silly...!" And with that the brunette tackled her to the ground tickling her into a fit of laughter.

Finally breaking free, the blond tried to catch her breath as she chided her friend. "Is this going to be an ongoing thing with you?"

"Oh, you know you love it..." the brunette shot back jokingly before brushing the dirt off herself once more. "Anyways, no time like the present! The sooner you get Kami-E down, the sooner I can introduce you to a few other Rokushiki techniques, and the better I'll feel about you on the Grand Line..."

"Rokushiki...?" She blinked at the unfamiliar term as her mind pondered the choice of name. "Kind of straightforward, huh? What are the other ones?"

"I'm also rather curious..."

Whirling about, Apis let out a cry of surprise as a tall figure in a hood simply walked up the nearby beach out of the ocean. "W-who's that?!"

Koala stared for a bit before her face took on a brighter smile. "You guys came this early, huh? I'm rather surprised. Where's everybody else?"

"Sorry, but the others won't be coming..." the figure replied as he removed the hood attached to his gi, revealing a trio of ponytails with two atop the head.

*sigh* "Figures... In that case, what have you come here for," the martial artist questioned as she cracked her neck, "Kuroobi?"

"You never struck me as the impatient type, Koala; I hadn't finished my sentence..." the ray fishman chided with a small smile before his features hardened. "They won't be coming because they're still looking after our captain."

The brunette blinked. "Looking after him...? What do you mean?"

—-—-—

(Earlier Today — Somewhere in the New World)

"Sensei..."

In the shadows of the moonlight cast across a simple office, a man looked up from his musings his subordinate from behind triangular sunglasses. Shifting back in his chair, the man's form slid out from the dark of dusk, revealing his receding hairline of spiked purple hair. Chest bare with a Marine officer coat across his seat, his large and muscular form made moving the large mechanical arm atop his desk to the wall seem like lifting a small cat by the scruff of its neck. "What is it, Ain?"

At the other end of the room Ain stepped into her own light, moving long strands of dark blue hair from between her focused copper rose eyes and her 'sensei'. Pulling papers from her sleeveless Marine uniform beneath her own coat, she spread them out on the desk so the man could see the information and wanted poster of— "Kaijōsei Koala is on the move. She's been spotted in East Blue, involved in an incident at Loguetown."

"Ah, I heard about that..." The large man replied, flexing his prosthetic right arm back and forth. "What do you want to do...? Do you want to take her down that badly?" He chuckled as he gave her a dry look that she recognized through his shades.

"T-That's not it, but..." the female Marine shifted her eyes from her instructor as his chuckle turned into a hearty laugh, only to draw their focus again as it became a wheezing cough. "Zephyr-Sensei...!"

Finishing his hack with a puff of a brown aerosol as he waved off his subordinate, the man walked over to the window as he withdrew his shades to reveal worn, teal eyes. "Eventually the day may come when we'll come face-to-face with her again. For now, our squad is charged with hunting down criminal Fruit-users; no need to go after a simple martial artist."

Ain looked at him with only partially veiled surprise. "Sensei...?"

Zephyr grinned as he looked out upon the moonlit ocean before him. "I've known for many years that the Marines won't always be heroes or even on the side of good. Sometimes it's nice to think that pirates don't always have to be villains, either."

—-—-—

"Kaijōsei Koala...?"

"Indeed."

"The name _is_ familiar, but..." Pausing in thought, the man leaned back in his stone chair shadowing him from the light pouring in from his wide windows. Kicking up his feet, he poked the Den Den Mushi as he called back into the receiver. "So? Who the hell is it?"

"A pirate who became wanted at the rear end of your father's days as Chief," responded the gruff voice from the Den Den Mushi, accented by a pointed nose and blond mustache. "As I recall, she was being brought to him after her first offense when she escaped the warship. He seemed to take her escape very personally, and sent out agents of various skill levels after her."

"Ah! Now that you mention it... He did mention that pirate scum before: something about stealing a special gift he ordered for me in celebration of my up-and-coming promotion." Pausing, the man took a moment to drink his coffee before continuing. "And? Her bounty isn't exactly high; did my old man screw up, or was he weeding out the weak?"

"From the reports it would seem she mostly escaped through luck, though she's certainly tenacious and swift. After surviving what we assumed were fatal wounds, she dodged further pursuits and stayed off the radar as often as possible."

Shadowed beneath hair and mask, the lanky man's eyebrow raised in irritation. "I take it that's the swift and tenacious part, but where does luck factor in? Once they finally catch up, how did they fail to take her down? She can't have been much of a challenge considering she failed the first time, and I assume they didn't make the same mistake twice."

"Well, the missions were always assigned with multiple hits; it was the only way the Chief could keep her relevant enough to belay the Marines taking her as a priority target—especially the attack squad. But after the first confrontation, when anything resembling combat was met with evasion, and in the pursuit the other targets listed managed to get in the way every time."

"I see now..." the man chuckled as he set his coffee on his desk and shrugged, "There's no way she would know the alternate targets every time, so it's been sheer dumb luck that she throws the right person under the bus."

"We had an agent or two rotating in to try and track her down, but with so many members on missions or standby as of late it had to be suspended. Considering she made it out to the East Blue without us finding out, those searches would likely have been difficult if not futile."

"Heh, that makes things simple, I suppose. What skills does she have besides being quick and hard to kill?"

"Ah yes sir." The caller paused as he shuffled through some papers before resuming. "The recent reports from the Loguetown Incident indicate that she uses some kind of unusual fighting style. This corresponds with other encounters both from our own intelligence and the report from the 8th Division."

Scratching his chin, his superior hummed lazily. "Well, I've got a new recruit that's been itching for some action. Nero's got a long way to go before he'll be on the same level as Lucci, but he's not going to get there sitting around doing nothing. More importantly he's still superhuman and close enough to move in on her."

"Ah, one more thing... Though it's true that Spandine-sama ordered her assassination, you should know that she's wanted alive by the Tenryūbito."

"EH?!" the man screamed into the receiver, "The World Nobles?! What do they care about her for?" Shaking his head, the man interjected his own question. "Never mind that! I'll talk to you later, I've got to call up my subordinate."

"Understood."

Sighing, the thin man set the receiver down and put a hand through his wavy lavender hair. "If we bring her in alive..." he pondered aloud as he looked across the room, a maniacal grin growing with every word, "it'll be better than just having the blueprints of Pluton for the Gorōsei; I'll have the favor of the creators of the world! It's as if heaven is smiling down on me! Now I just have to get Aokij—"

"Um... Chief Spandam?"

"AH!" Crying out as he realized he'd left the Den Den Mushi on for the other line to hear, Spandam quickly sat up and grasped for the receiver, brushing his cup of coffee in the process. "Nothing! Hurry up and get off the li—AH!" *crash* "Shit! Hot _hot hooooot_!"

—-—-—

"Understoo—*bzzt*—Spanda—" *bzzt* *crash* *bzzt*

(Somewhere in East Blue)

A deep laughter resonated throughout the belly of the vessel as its owner walked slowly through the passage. Walking into the room at the end of the hall, he smiled even wider as the inhabitant rose from the bed. "Nelson Royale, huh...?"

Chuckling again, the humongous man walked closer as light from the porthole of the stolen ship illuminated his features. Taking a deep breath, he shrugged about in the constricting clothes that barely fit around his girth, the seams of the regular garments audibly strained as he spoke. "Walking around is truly a pain, but it will be worth it once we obtain the Elixir. How are you faring today, Eric?"

"The pain is... rather debilitating, admittedly..." the mercenary clutched the bandages about his chest, many already turning red from simply shifting where he lay. "I... Never mind. How did I get here?"

"With those disgusting fish running amok it was surprisingly easy to make an escape from Loguetown," bragged the ex-leader of the 8th Division, rather proud of his accomplishment, "and with Smoker departing for the Grand Line they haven't even figured out that I escaped yet with all the work they're having to do."

The Whirlwind righted himself as he adjusted his hair—still upright but not quite to his liking—and stared down his former employer. "Though I'm flattered, why did you bother saving me? I never pinned you as a charity worker..."

Grinning back, the overweight criminal motioned for him to follow him up to the deck. "I managed to still hold on to a small bit of money—most of which went towards your recovery—but I assumed that immortality was still something you were interested in. Especially with your current state, you might need it."

"And...?" Eric sighed as he put his sunglasses on in anticipation of the light of day. "Do you think Kaijōsei is going to just let us walk up and take the Ryūkotsu?"

"Lucky for us, that wench won't be a problem anymore." Gesturing to the shell attached to his wrist, he opened it to reveal a small black snail. "It seems Cipher Pol is stepping up to take care of her for us. All we have to do is not get noticed, and can simply walk in afterwards and handle it."

Humming back as the sun lit their faces, the hired assassin deflected the sun from his eyes for a brief moment, noting the nails on his hand had grown to their former length. _Pros and cons of the power, I suppose_, he thought with a chuckle as he drew a nail file from his pocket and began refining their points. "Hmmmm. Seems there's some good news to all this. Very well..." he went on with a sense of irony as he turned to his current partner in crime, Warship Island distantly visible behind him. "As an order from the great Nelson Royale."

—-—-—

(The Present — Warship Island)

"W-What?! Arlong won't wake up?!" The look in the fishman's eyes told her that he spoke the truth, but it was difficult for the brunette to take in. "How? He was still talking and everything after the bout! Will he be alright?"

"That's what I've come to find out," Kuroobi replied as he settled into a wide horse stance with a deep, cleansing breath. "No matter how you slice it, Straw-Hat Luffy is just a straight fighter, augmenting his skills with the abilities of a Devil's Fruit. You, on the other hand, are a human who learned the art of Fishman Karate from a book rather than from a master, if I heard correctly."

Her dark-blue eyes narrowed at the statement while Apis tilted her head in confusion. "What do you mean...?"

The male martial artist put a hand up to hold her question. "Please do not misunderstand me. After seeing your fight with Arlong, I have no doubts about your skill in our style. However..." Turning to the blond, he continued his explanation with lighter tones. "Without a master to guide you in training, the effectiveness of one's technique may not be along the same vein as tradition might intend."

"I take it you've come far enough in your training that you can perform strikes with controlled numbers of tiles on the lower end?" the ray fishman questioned his peer as he turned back to her, receiving an affirmative nod and replying in kind. "Then the first step will be simple: clash with me at a low-numbered level; fifty should be about right."

"I don't quite get it, but..." Koala walked forward and set herself in the same stance an arms-length from the male pirate. Both of them stood still for a moment and breathed slowly, leaving Apis slightly befuddled at the silence.

"Um, ar—?" Hearing the sound of their vocal chords beginning to vibrate, she flinched back as they cried out the attack.

"_Gyojin Karate: Gojumaigawara Seiken!__"_

The Whisper-Woman's gut reaction of surprise was fortunate, for their clash shook the air about them as the well-matched strikes were brought to opposition. _Amazing..._ she thought to herself as the two stood there with their fists met, _The water in the air resonates like a bell. So beautiful... Hm?_ Amidst the pleasurably pure tone and the other sounds of their exertion, a quiet sound from each of them caught her attention. "The sound is different...?"

Looking up from the exchange at her muttering, the ray fishman gave the younger girl an inquiring look. "You can tell?"

"Apis...?" Koala gave her friend a worried look.

The blond nodded as she closed her eyes to concentrate on the fading echo of susurration. "Mmm. The strike from Kuroobi-san sounds like...like a drop of water making a ripple in a lake, while yours is more...it's as if you threw a rock in, and the shore is being eroded. Something like that..." Blushing at the attention, Apis drew her hat further down over her face.

"Apis ate the Hiso Hiso no Mi, and became a Hiso-Joshi (Whisper-Woman)," the brunette explained for their company's benefit.

"W-What's that supposed to mean?" the island native stammered with confusion. "Stop coming up with weird nicknames for me!"

She responded first with a pointed stare before lightening up. "Hey now, come on! Most fruit users say they're so-and-so Man, I just thought Hiso-Joshi sounded better than Hiso-Ningen (Whisper-Man). Am I wrong?"

"N-no, but... Ack! Stop it!" Kuroobi simply stared without looking while the two ladies entered another friendly tussle, absorbing the information he'd received.

Finally, Koala broke free of the silliness and addressed their visitor as she dusted off her dress once more. "I take it Aladdin-san is still with Jinbe, otherwise he'd have a prognosis... Well, I know someone out in the Grand Line we can take him to—I have business there that I probably should do sooner rather than later—but it will be better if we get him looked at first. Fortunately, I know someone closer by who ought to be thrilled."

"Are you sure?" Her fellow practitioner failed to hide the surprise on his face fast enough before he spoke. "Arlong is the one who picked the fight to begin with, when he could have been helping us escape."

Looking down, the martial artist stared down at her open palms before clenching them back together. "I'm not sure how yet, but it seems that it's my fault; it's the least I can do. Besides..." She paused to meet his gaze before letting her smile return. "I've been meaning to catch up with you guys for ages! Fighting with Arlong was something I thought might happen, but I was hoping we could just sit down and talk; I still do, really..."

The moment of silence stretched out before it was shattered loudly as Umizoui let out a loud trumpet as it ran down the coast, sliding to a stop and enveloping the girls in a trunk-hug to the younger's surprise and the elder's delight. As the elephant transformed back into a kusarigama about Koala's waist Kuroobi shook his head slightly, the small smile growing on his face unnoticed even to him.

"Good to see you too buddy!" Giving the living weapon a light scratch across one of the handles, the brunette chuckled as the blade shifted into a trunk that wrapped around her neck like a scarf. "Alright, alright! What's going on?"

In that moment, everyone became aware of Apis as she froze at the words 'spoken' by the elephant-weapon. "Is... Is that true, Umizoui?"

Kuroobi frowned at the girl's demeanor and stepped forward. "What is it? What did it say?"

Locking gazes with each other, it didn't take long for Koala to figure out what her partner had said as her friend's eyes watered. "It seems it's time..." Turning back to her fellow martial artist, the young woman gave him a somber face. "We'll head out soon, but it seems that we have some business to sort out first. You're welcome to stay, though; I'm sure Apis doesn't mind."

Getting an affirmative nod from the young girl, the ray fishman looked back at her senior quizzically. "Doesn't min—?!" As he spoke, the ground suddenly shook violently as the sun peeked out from behind Warship Island, the waves trembling about them. "What's happening? What do you mean it's time?"

Grinning slightly, she looked to the sky as numerous specks in the distant clouds approached. Sensing the large disturbance approaching behind her, she began to explain as the creature came to the ground and roared into the sky. "It's been one thousand years at last. Kuroobi, may I introduce you to Ryu-ji and his family: The Millennium Dragons!"

—-—-—

(Meanwhile)

Far above the waters of East Blue, a trio stood silently observing the wave of majestic green creatures migrating across the sky. As the roar from Warship Island echoed up and shook the earth beneath their feet, creatures around them fled in confusion and terror at the unknown. As they stared down at them, one of them began gesturing wildly to the second, while the third seemed to giggle in expectation.

Finally the man in the center couldn't take it. "What are you trying to say?"

Instantly halting his gestures, the other man replied, "It's quite a wonder to behold, isn—?"

"**YOU CAN**_** TALK?**_" the first interjected in shock, while the third chuckled inhumanly and clapped its hands loudly. Calming down, the central man walked forward with metallic steps and surveyed the view below him in confusion. "Hmm...? A carpet?"

Slapping the first in the back of the head, the second cried, "It's a flock of Sennenryū, any way you look at it!" before all three suddenly grouped together for a pose.

"_Hai!_" "_**Urah!**_"

Silence held beyond the sweeping winds and the wing beat of dragons before the central man split from the tableau to draw forth and light a cigar. "So, Doctor Indigo... If we use the Millennium Dragons, how soon will the plan be complete again?"

"Mmmm, let's see..." the doctor stepped forward, shoes creating a farting sound as he did so. "I think considering our preparations, at least a year if not two. Much better than how we've been fairing."

"Excellent. Take Scarlet and anyone else you see fit with you and see it done. And while you're at it," the man paused as he took another draft, knocking off more ashes from the burning tobacco, "Tell the other interested parties that the initiation has been changed."

"Understood, Shiki-oyabun (Boss Shiki)."

Taking a deep breath, the lit cigar illuminated the face of an aging man with a steering wheel stuck into his head. As he let the smoke billow out from his mouth, the wind swept the cloud away while he spoke as his golden hair and elaborate clothes shifted about him before it blew out the embers. "Killing her won't put my plan on track again, but since she's been so helpful in leading us to the next best thing I suppose we can afford her a quick death."

* * *

><p><strong>alittlebitlate—...considering what I was already planning, Arlong actually has a decent reason to be a bit OoC, and getting off with only that is lucky...<strong>

**The lesson for me this Chapter: Whenever a chapter fits length-wise nicely in my head, it means writing it out equals 2 chapters. You'd think I might have picked up on that after Chapters 2 and 3 became Chapters 2-5, but here it is again. Considering that was the inspiration-half of why this chapter took so much time, I hope the delay won't become a regular thing. It's kind of depressing when I spend a month and a half struggling to cram this through my brain onto paper and then the computer, and then suddenly the rest flows out magically in a day or two...**

**In other news I am indeed paranoid about the M rating, and I will do my best to withhold quick judgments in the future; I just resisted the spontaneous urge an hour ago to write a nonsensical Omake that just popped into my head (after reviewing it on paper, it wasn't very good), so I'm working on it.**

**Thanks again to all you readers! Now then, I'm off to work on another chapter (and reviewing other people's work that's still backed up)! Hope the ride continues to prove enjoyable; until next time!**


	7. Chapter 7: Understanding

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. I don't think I could be quite so buddy-buddy with Masashi Kishimoto just cause of my issues with it. Not to say I couldn't work it out over time, but it'd be a bit too cordial at first before things smoothed out.

More importantly Oda clearly has a lot more solid planning than I do, considering the number combinations of chapters and their correlations in information—not just the last chapter but the one before it as well! And to combine 5-6 different ideas was pretty amazing! I wish I could've come up with something like that!

**Chapter 7: Understanding**

* * *

><p>While most who were born on the Grand Line would be far less surprised by it, it is often based on circumstances and which island they lived on most of their lives. What most wouldn't expect, however, is how few islands actually find their world so dull normally upon their ocean—Fishman Island even more so thanks to their incredible isolation beneath the Red Line.<p>

Even so, those that leave their home into the open seas often grow more expectant and experienced, and so it was for the Arlong Pirates. Sailing across the Grand Line with Fisher Tiger, it was not hard to see many people and places in their protest against the Marines and the World Government. When Jinbe exiled his crew into East Blue—called "Weakest Ocean" by many pirates—the return to 'normality' hammered into their heads the overwhelming strength they had by comparison, forged in battles along waters that were home to them yet hell to humans.

_Admittedly, we had a major wake-up call when Nami brought back her new nakama that had wiped the floor with us, or so I've gathered_. _Considering oxygen deprivation and all the blows to the head, I can live with forgetting one day. Shame to forget the man that took me down though; Smoker only had his tenacity compared to his quick thinking under pressure._

But even within that strangest of oceans there remained the most fantastical tales and myths. Some, like Devil Fruits, were passed by word of mouth and distorted as their powers rose and faded across the years. Others had been whispered since the gathering of those twenty rulers and their sovereignty over the world. Even if there was truth to either end of the spectrum and all those between, it was never completely true—the most impossible bits being false, but the core sometimes true.

_So then what's more impossible: Dragons or Immortality...?_ When considered as such, it was easier for Kuroobi to keep his surprise in check, though as the beast before him roared to its brethren the smirk on Koala's face told him he had not been completely successful. _Then again, it would be expected of her to be testing the waters of where we stand. Still, that tricky smile isn't one I thought I'd see on her face. Or perhaps it was there all along, lost in the trauma...?_

"Soooooo...?" The dragged out vowel pulled the ray fishman from his ponderings as the human martial artist inquired for a listen. "Pretty crazy, don't you think?"

_Is it really that interesting that I find mythical being so unexpected, out here in East Blue, of all seas? _"...feathers...?" Ignoring her deadpanned 'What' she uttered, he spoke up to relate his musing as a cover for his surprise. "I never would have thought dragons would have feathers."

Koala hummed in thought. "I suppose that's fair. Maybe all those government studies of dinosaurs are wrong then, or at least contradictory. They claim they're closely related to birds—why not feathers?"

Kuroobi allowed his lips curve slightly upwards. "Now that's a bit of a stretch... For one, how do we know dragons and dinosaurs are even related enough?"

"Now you're just playing Devil's Advocate..." she huffed with a knowing smirk that revealed her understanding of his own.

"What's a dinosaur?" Both martial artists turned to regard Apis, her head tilted in confusion.

Dark-blue eyes lit up as she snapped her fingers. "That's right, the World Government doesn't have any stance here. You don't get the papers from News Coos on a regular basis; the one from this morning was special because of the updated wanted posters." Getting a negative shake of her head in response, Koala knelt down to regard her friend. "Well, dinosaurs are creatures that lived long before humans ever evo—er, existed."

The blonde pouted at her friend's correction. "I know what evolution is..."

"Oh, I didn't change it for you," the brunette denied, "It's..."

"...a theory that's not exactly foolproof in the broader scope of things," Apis looked up at Kuroobi as he finished the thought with noticeable distaste, "particularly in regards to the idea of other races beyond humans."

_Like fishmen..._ Reading the unspoken implication, the Warship Islander could only look down with a quiet, "Sorry..."

"Pfft, no need to apologize. It's not like you came up with evolution or anything," Koala chastised her friend briefly before giving her fellow martial artist a pointed look.

Clearing his throat, the gray fishman nodded. "Indeed."

Turning back to her friend, the female pirate returned to the topic at hand. "Unlike Sennenryū and Dragons in general, people have been finding fossils of these large reptilian creatures that died millions of years ago. Since life began in the ocean, the first creatures to rise to the surface were ancestors to amphibious, reptilian, and later most life on land for so many years."

"Ah, I get it!" Apis exclaimed as she made the connection. "Reptiles came up first, they had the advantage and grew much larger!"

"Something like that," her close friend chuckled lightly. "And the rulers of that age were the dinosaurs, often the greatest predators in their respective food chains. We learn so much about the past and future by their remains alone, alongside others below them."

The Whisper Woman paused while more and more Millennium Dragons appeared. "Wait, then where did they all go? Oh! Did they return to the ocean and evolve into Fishmen?"

"While I'm honored at the suggestion," the ray fishman spoke somberly with a shake of his head, "the official story is that an immense meteor crashed down from the sky some millions of years ago, wiping dinosaurs from the land as the disasters in its wake cleansed much of the world."

"Unfortunately, there are other factors that don't mesh with this fact, such as the World Government's explanation of why the Red Line exists and the inability to check or contradict their claims. The fact that Ryu-ji and his family exist adds several suspicious bits as well, such as the feathers—hence Kuroobi's surprise." Turning to him, the brunette made no mystery of her opinion on the matter with a thin smirk. "Or so he says..."

Sighing at her persistence, Kuroobi tried to turn things back on his fellow martial artist. "I can see you did your research, Koala—"

"I'd accept your compliment," she cut him off, unconcerned with his follow-up, "but I'm wondering how you know so much of these things. I had reason with Apis' search, but you...?"

"I've dealt with a fair share of humans who were vastly misinformed on such facts and tried to claim we were weak as a result," he explained. "Education in such matters made things far more clear—know thyself first."

"Please," The brunette chuckled as she gave him a joking punch, "don't use 'thyself' before you bend over backwards trying to puff out your chest."

Her fellow martial artist blinked before shaking his head. "Well that's one way to put it."

"If you guys are done catching up...?" Behind them, Apis had already walked over and started climbing up the elder Millennium Dragon's back, "I fell like you guys aren't appreciating the level of awe expected for seeing a flock of dragons!"

As she started to get aboard, Koala walked over and grabbed her lightly by the collar. "Hey, don't go hopping on him just yet—you're still wearing the sweat and grime in that set of workout clothes!" Blushing, the blond relented the climb with a mumble of apology as her friend continued, offering one a handle of the elephant-kusarigama as it shifted itself to wrap about Apis' waist, "But I'll certainly join you to meet Ryu-ji's family if that's what you'd like. Can't have you fall off of him, anyways. All three of us! You'll get back faster if you go with Umizoui, anyways."

Getting an affirmative trumpet from the animated object, the native nodded back with a brighter smile. "Alright! I'll go grab a fresh set of clothes and be back real quick!"

"What about you, Kuroobi?" the brunette turned to inquire with a smirk while Apis ran up back towards her grandfather's home, "Are you interested in flying high in the sky?"

Letting out a small sigh, the fishman answered, "I'll pass thank you. Coming up to the surface was one thing, but Reverse Mountain is plenty of flying for one lifetime."

Koala blinked. "Wait, what? When did you ride up Reverse Mountain? With Arlong?"

"With the Sun Pirates, the year before we took you aboard. Or did you think we spent 4 years wandering Paradise?" Seeing his fellow martial artist blush in embarrassment, Kuroobi let himself smile visibly before he went on. "In any case, we spent some time hunting down a slaving ring run by pirates in the North Blue. It was easier to arrive from Reverse Mountain at the time, and later on we returned to Fishman Island in the other direction from the New World."

"Slavery in the North Blue...?" The former slave gripped her face as she muttered, feeling dizzy as she tried to calm down at the thought of the harsh things that came to mind. "By pirates?"

"It seemed that way at the time. Sadly, we never caught the guys at the top, but there were some rotten things out there." Aware of her discomfort on the topic, Kuroobi paused to let her calm down for a moment. "We all did our part for the short time we were out there to end some of the injustices we saw there, but Tiger was always trying to track down the underground broker."

"Hmm..." Koala murmured to herself as she walked towards the coast, her hair shadowed as she let her hand drop from her cheek. "I suppose he would since he was a slave, too..."

..._eh?_

"Ah, that's right!" And like that, the brunette rebounded to her previously bright attitude as she smiled back at her former shipmate, "Hang on, I have something for you!"

Realizing where she would have left it, the ray fishman called out to her too late as she leapt into the water. As she dove, his thoughts ran wild as he processed her passing words. _When did she...? _How_ did she learn Fisher Tiger was a slave to the Tenryūbito...?! Was it something he shared with her before us...?_ The thought of the Sun Pirate Captain trusting Koala back then made Kuroobi clench his fists before calming himself._ No, it was hard enough for him to tell us, let alone a human child. Even if he hoped children wouldn't grow up with their parents' fear and hate, he wouldn't have shared his trauma so easily to her..._

..._which makes her knowledge even more impossible,_ the martial artist realized._ Even as they fought, Arlong never fully told her, so how... No... No, she _couldn't_ be...?_

"RROOOOOOOAAARR!"

The sudden roar broke the fishman pirate from the train of thought as he whirled around to face the elderly dragon. "E-Eh? What?" Rearing its head skyward to its brethren, Ryu-ji roared again to the sky and took off. "What happene—!"

*BOOM*

—-—-—

Apis perked up as the sounds of cannon fire reached her supernatural ears a brief moment before the explosions rocked the earth beneath her feet. "What was—!" Focusing outside her normal range of hearing, she confirmed that there were— "Flying ships...? What the hell?" Nearly pulling the used shirt fully on, the native islander stumbled at yet another tremor shook the island, sending her barreling into another room. "Ow, that hurt... Ah! Grandpa!" Pulling her shirt up, she ran over to her grandfather's room calling to her grandfather. "Grandpa Bokuden! Are you oka—huh?"

Amidst the chaos from fallen furniture and possessions her grandfather continued sleeping peacefully on his back, murmuring words that sounded familiar to her. "In the 1500th generation of..."

Apis let out a sigh of relief, straightening her attire out without thinking. "Of course you'd sleep right through Lost Island rising from the sea..." Shaking her head for focus, she turned about with a whisper of, "I'll be back soon, Jii-san," and turned to open the window. "Umizoui, let's hurry!"

Chains unraveled from her waist as a kama launched itself out of the house and caught onto a nearby tree. Dragging her out from her grandfather's room, the twin kusarigama blades began transforming into tusks of the full-sized elephant as weapon and girl flew out the window, the red and blue wrappings of the handles spreading into its colorful head-dress and seat-coverings. The living weapon let out a grunt of agreement as its chain-tail helped swing the Whisper-Woman aboard before he charged down the hillside. _Ryu-ji... Please be all right..._

Unbeknownst to her, the old man behind in the house opened his eyes to watch his granddaughter leap into the chaos with a sigh on his lips. "And here I thought she'd stay and prepare for the return of the Millennium Dragons. Well, not that any of the boys her age give her the time of day anyways. Guess she's got plenty of time to come home..." Sitting himself upright with his staff, he bowed his head in sleep with a final thought: _You bring my granddaughter back safe and sound, Koala. Heh, wouldn't have it any other way..._

—-—-—

*BOOM*

"Seems things have gotten quite lively..." Nelson chuckled as he stepped from sandy beach to grassy fields, Marines from his vessel behind him. "I can feel the cannons rumbling the earth through my bones! Uuuhehehehehee~!"

_Tch, more like your fat..._ Eric thought derisively as he followed suit, keeping an eye on the Marines from the side. The ex-Teikoku had purposely disconnected the Den Den Mushi so their sailors would be unaware of their fugitive status, but it paid to be sure—quite literally in this case. Pausing as he passed the threshold of the sand, he took note of the rumbling the large man had noted. _It's not ending... _Reaching down, he placed a hand down to feel the tremors first-hand. _An earthquake? No, but something..._

Noting his hired hand stop, the former Marine's mustache twitched at the delay as he called out to the purple-suited man. "What is it, Eric? I'd be surprised if your wounds still troubled you..."

"It would appear that cannons are not all that make the earth tremble here," the Kama Kama user replied cryptically to match. _You have some surprising connections, but you waste their secrecy for cheap taunt._ Grinning while he waited for his employer-of-convenience to grow irritated, he explained as he rose from the ground, "I can't be sure, but it would seem that Lost Island itself may be nearer than we thought."

That put a matching grin on the False Admiral's face as he turned further to address his 'subordinates' with glee. "This is it, men! Hunt down the pirates and capture one of the Sennenryū!"

Unknown to the large man as the Marines let out a rallying cry at their charge, Eric's mouth had continued its curvature into a much more devious smile as he chuckled to himself. _I'm not sure what kind of plan you have in mind, Nelson Royale, or how you managed to heal me so well with out doctors, but I suppose you've proven your worth. Perhaps I'll let you share in the elixir after all. _Looking to the rising smoke from another part of the island, his lips stretched his visage even more into something truly feral. _In any case, with my immortality at hand, I'll be sure to kill Kaijōsei once and for all. Well... if CP9 doesn't take her down first._

—-—-—

As the smoke cleared from ground zero into the air, Kuroobi stood firm with his hand on the crumbling cutlass he'd used to deflect the cannon fire. "Tch, and here I thought the Marines would have better craftsmanship," he muttered as he crushed the guard in his hand and let the broken weapon drop.

"I know, right?" From the rocky coast, Koala rose up and tossed the martial artist a large saber in a black sheath. "This ought to be more to your liking, right?"

Drawing the oversized blade, the ray fishman slid a hand across the weapon with curiosity. "A lot of Kairōseki for one unbalanced zanbatō, don't you think?"

"Nah, it's unbalanced because it's only _lined_ with Sea-Stone," she corrected before taking a moment throw her hair about, brunette locks flinging water out until her hair was perfectly dry, "I don't know if the guy I got it from was just that cheap or got totally ripped off, but for your size it might be decent."

Kuroobi took a moment to swap the weapon's sheath for the cutlass' beneath his belt before looking up into the sky. "Crap..." he sighed at the irony of the sight above him, "I just said I wasn't in the mood for flying...?

"Flyi—_**eeeeeeeeeeehhh?!**_" Craning her own neck up she comically cried out at the ships hanging in midair at a broadside angle to them, sails fluttering in the unnatural breeze. "That's so cool!"

"Be impressed later!" her fellow martial artist chided, eyes narrowing in on the variety of black-flags with skulls and crossbones, "What did you do to piss off a group of pirates with flying ships, anyway?"

"Never seen them before in my life!" Koala replied irritably, dropping her more positive manner at being shot down, "And judging by the ropes they're descending on, I'd say you probably don't have to worry about flying. Where's Ryu-ji and Apis?"

"Apis is still up by there with Umizoui," he supplied before levying a serious gaze to the former slave, "but the dragon freaked out and flew out towards the island. Speaking of which... Is there a reason the island is _still shaking?_"

The brunette swore before answering his inquiry. "Best guess? This island once was in the Calm Belt if not the Grand Line itself, shifting to the East slowly over the course of multiple millennia. It would explain Nanimonai-shima, and more importantly 'Lost Island' surfacing every thousand years..." Ignoring the raised eyebrow of the former Arlong Pirate, she returned to the matter at hand. "They might already be attacking others for Ryūkotsu...! I'd better clear the air with these guys first. I trust you can handle yourself enough?"

With a tightened grip on the Sea-Stone Saber the swordsman nodded. "Yeah. If any of those ships get in range, I'll cu—!"

"Wrong! Protect Apis, and don't die; that's all!" Meeting the hard stare that dared him to question what the brunette wanted, he relented with a nod before she turned back to face the enemy. "Geppō!" Leaping into the air, Koala zagged across the sky towards the central quintet of ships bombarding them, blowing the ray fishman's hood sloppily over his face.

As the flying ships circled about, more ropes descended and brought down numerous pirates all across the risen landmass. Within moments the martial artist was surrounded by hundreds of men and women with blades and guns drawn and ready for use. "Hehehe, lookie here! A little fishie out of water!" Kuroobi stood unmoving with his face shadowed by the garment as the outlaws inched closer in response to the outspoken woman amongst them. "What's the matter, fishie? Can't speak without 'dem gills, ey?" Upon closer inspection, the feminine pirate noted he was still staring up into the cloth. "Hey I'm talkin' to ye, fishie!"

Though the crowd grew restless at the perceived inattention, nothing could be further from the truth—just not the way they had in mind. _When did she learn how to _fly_?!_ the fishman repeated in his head. It took nearly all of his concentration to not balk in front of the assembled outlaws due to shock._ When she was chatting about flight with Apis earlier, kicking off the air like that is nothing like what I was expecting her to mean...!_

"Hey, you piece of shit!" Another pirate called out with growing impatience as he cocked his pistol, "You keep standing there ignoring us and we'll gut you like the fish you are!" Again, there was no response. "You hear me?!"

He shook his head not at the words about him but at his own thoughts. _No, calm down Kuroobi... You got too flustered and forgot to ask about Fisher Tiger. There's only so many possibilities even accounting for G-2, and not a lot of them are positive... Could she really have known all along?_

*BANG*

Everyone froze as the talkative pirate grinned and let his weapon drop, smoke rising from the barrel of the flintlock after it's bullet fired through both ends of the fluttering hood. "Heh. Sleep with the fishies, yo—!" His arrogance fled quickly like the rest of them and left behind only fear as the hood's wearer slowly reached up to lift and look at the two holes in its fabric. Looking it over, the martial artist failed to display a single emotion beyond his untouched stone-gray face as the shooter turned to his allies in a panic. "Hey, stop messing around! Hurry up and shoot him full of holes already!"

"...really...?"

The gun-toting pirate availed himself of his arms with a cry at his former target's murmur and leapt into the crowd. "F-Fire!" In the hysteria the whole round of pirates opened fire around the crier, but in the thick of it Kuroobi calmly shifted the blade in his hand to deflect and slice specific bullets—all the while moving with a trained subtlety into the safe-zone he was creating. Shots fired unhalted by him continued their trajectory past him into their encircling midst and riddled those unprepared opposite the vocal pirate before they could fire themselves.

At the center of confusion and pain the ray fishman swung his blade as one would to remove blood as flintlocks clicked empty, looking upon the persisting dark streaks intently. _They use such messy gunpowder and ammunition to still stain such a sword as this. Disrespectful..._ Focusing on the pirates around him, knowing the train of thought from before would have to wait, he continued his address to his attackers as he moved the zanbatō to his side and gestured to the damaged hood. "You know how difficult it is—how _hard_ it is—to come by things like these?"

"Be careful," the woman from before called out from the injured side with a hand clutched to her shoulder, "he's got to be gearing up for a technique or somet—!"

"Technique...? I don't need such things against scum like you." Before she could finish forming another word the martial artist leapt into the air towards the uninjured crowd, the oversized saber by his left side as if it rested in a second sheathe. Descending into their midst as he closed his eyes declared, "Your chances of victory were zero from the start."

—-—-—

"Howdy neighbors!" Koala spoke up as she landed on deck of the nearest galleon, ignoring the cries of surprise and fear as she cheerfully greeted them. "So... Nice ships you've got here... Don't recognize the flag, though..."

"S-shit!" one of the pirates stammered as he drew a flintlock. "Die, Kaijōsei!"

"Hmmmm...? That's nice." As the man pulled the trigger, the martial artist simply muttered "Rankyaku." and kicked a visible blue blade of compressed air towards the man as his bullet left the chamber. As it whizzed toward her the bullet split in half and bored into the deck at either side while the mast behind the shooter simply floated upwards into the air, separated at a close line behind him. "Oh... The mast still floats? That's convenient. Devil Fruit, I take it?"

The pistol fell from the man's open hand as he stared agape at her nonchalant musings. "She just cut the mast clean off our ship—!"

"—And yet your ship still sails on, smooth as quicksilver!" she interjected into his sentence, walking up to him as she stared up at the mast. "Mast too, even. I must say I'm quite impressed. How do you anticipate that kind of separation? Or is it automatic...?"

Before any of the other pirates could react, the brunette seemed to pull water from her skirt before making to throw it up at the mast with a call of, "Uchimizu!" In an instant the handful of water shot from her throw straight through the mast, chunks of moist wood falling to the ground while most of the mast remained in air.

"What the hell do you think yo—?" Despite the pirates' growing irritation, the former slave simply walked over to the whole she had made, finding a floating piece only half-dripping with water. "Hey, stop ignoring me!"

"What am I doing, you ask?" The pirate who'd spoken up flinched as she spoke up before she smiled again and gave her audience an enthusiastic 'thumbs-up' gesture. "Science, my undereducated acquaintances! Science..." Letting the wood float before her, she made a motion to drag the water through the chunk until the whole piece was wet, before it dropped to the deck. "Devil's Fruit indeed. Nice to know salt-water is as reliable as always, though it seems to require more than simply partial coverage. I wonder if salt is the crucial element...?"

Just as the pirates aboard started to lock into the mindset, she leapt clean overboard in one visible jump and lost them physically on top of mentally. Across the way, one of the other ships less privy to her words tried to rally them together. "Where did she go? Find her!"

"There she i—EEEEEEEEEEEE?!" Voices rang out from another one as they stared at the young woman with her arms crossed at the chest, her legs kicking off the air rapidly in a sound that was amazingly reminiscent of metal-on-floor rather than rubber-in-air.

"What?" she chuckled with sarcasm heavy in her tone and expression, "You act like you've never seen someone do a levitating tap-dance before..."

"Will somebody just _shoot her already?!_"

"Geppō!" And with that she was bounding subtly downwards from the chunk of the pirate fleet, which quickly charged as quickly as they could after her with cannons blazing. "Well, if Apis is going to be saying goodbye to Ryu-ji, I suppose it's time for a merry chase then—that'll hold their attention for awhil—!"

"FIRE!"

The sudden explosion rocked the underside of the floating pirate ship nearby the airborne pirate, flinging burning shrapnel her way and sending her barreling to the ocean as she caught a glimpse of her attacker. _You have _got_ to be kidding me...!_

—-—-—

"Shiki-oyabun, the main attack ships are pursuing Kaijōsei now!"

"Idiots. If they're in pursuit, they've already lost... Best we begin, then." Rising from a dark throne, the Flying Pirate stepped forward on bladed legs as he dismissed the man who had reported. Raising a hand, a number of golden shells rose up to him and clicked audibly as he began to speak:

"To all my faithful associates who wish to join the growing number of crews in our alliance of the Golden Lion Pirate Crew: I have gathered you all here in this weakest of oceans because of a particular pest that continues to gnaw upon my sensibilities. Intentional or no, this pirate has belayed my plans for far too long."

Grinning as he paused to light a cigar, the Golden Lion let himself float about the shells as if pacing. "Of course, anyone else who might get in your way could also be delivered to me to try and prove your worth, but only to the pirates whom bring to me—alive or dead—the wench known as Kaijōsei Koala will a place in my armada be guaranteed! As for the island, do as you see fit. Think of it as a taste of what is to come—for you, and this pitiful ocean! Jihahahahahaa!" And with his laughter, he completed the recordings and sent them on their way down to the encroaching rabble below.

All across Warship Island the shells were sent to the pirates that had gathered in interest to join up with the Legendary Pirate, listening in to the recorded message that he had delivered...

—-—-—

Atop a brightly colored submarine-ship, the sounds of guitar echoed over the waves as the vessel's black flag fluttered in the turbulent winds of the coast, its sombrero and maracas about the pointed skull across the dark fabric matching the crew's outward theme of a mariachi band—albeit lacking a greater variety of instruments. Stepping from the shade of the submarines rear cabin, the guitarist continued his music without a glance at the ensuing combat that quickly began to engulf coast, his tall form bowed in mocking concentration on his music.

"Shik-shik-shik-shik..." From beneath the tremendous sombrero he wore, a sad-sounding laugh echoed from his dark grin, shifting his light-red foulard and brown locks and mustache against his contrastingly angular face. Raising his head to banish the shade of his hat, the guitarist stowed his instrument away, allowing his elaborate purple poncho to envelop his open black jacket and pants as it rippled in the wind. "Amore, beloved little brother Corto: Let us see what Señor Shiki's ambition can provide for us."

"Yeah, Big Bro!" From the left of his taller brother stepped a larger man wearing a large sombrero, his own face concealed by a red and gold luchador mask that still showed off his chin's stubble. Like his brother, Corto stood decked out in an embroidered yellow poncho and green foulard as he chuckled to himself. _If there's one good thing about being this early, there's no way Big Bro will have a siesta right now._ "Listen up, men!"

Before the brothers, the assembled men stood with rifles and weapons, normal sombreros and charro suits, ready in a row as their Vice-Captain made his speech before them. "Today we'll offer up our prey Kaijōsei, and secure the Amigo Pirates place as brothers to the Legendary Pirate Shiki! She's tough, but we'll be able to take her down! Failure is not an option, you hear? Let's get her!"

"Órale!"

As the men rushed to make land, the two brothers walked forward with abilities and weapons subtly readied beneath their ponchos. As they stepped forward calmly, one of their crew paused as he offered the captain a hammer. "Now that I think of it, why were you crying earlier Captain Largo...?"

Largo grinned and let out his mistaken laugh once more before he answered, staring out at the rumbling seas before them. "Shik-shik-shik... Underdogs will always perish; such is the way of the world. Truly it is a shame to have to end the life of such a beautiful señorita." As he took the hammer from his subordinate, his face darkened with an odd sense of glee as he finished, "Perhaps as a requiem for her fall, she will enjoy a mucho_ mucho_ beautiful inferno colored by despair and screams as much as I will...!"

—-—-—

"Shaaa... And here I thought this mission was going to be boring." Amidst the panic of the burning pirate ship under attack, the man pocketed the golden shell in his orange pants, the bangles clinking about by his gloved left hand as he did so. Though his face was hidden beneath his black hat, the red plume shifting about in the turbulent air while the fires drowned out all sounds, his captive audience could see his whiskers twitch and his dark-brown t-shirt and necklaces flutter with his laughter.

As the inferno continued to consume ship and crew alike, most already bleeding heavily from large gashes and cuts, one of the men behind their attacker slowly stood, his breaths raspy from the smoke. Gathering his breath while his left hand clutched his own wound in vain, his right clenched ever tighter around his broken sword's grip. "Damn you... You monster!"

As the man charged, his enemy stood unmoving until the dulled blade nearly dug into his shoulder before he seemed to flutter out of the way with only a chuckle of "Kami-E" and "Rankyaku" as the man's left arm and injury were cut into by the whiskered man as his decorated shoe ghosted by him in a light kick. As the man fell back into the bulwark, he went on with his previous thoughts as if he hadn't been attacked. "Not only is there plenty of pirate blood to spill, but there's a famous big shot too? This is too much..."

"Purupurupuru... Purupurupuru..." Looking to his other picket, the man withdrew a Marine's Baby Den Den Mushi with a long black mustache as it rang. Sighing for a moment as the snail went on ringing, he chuckled as he took the call as the man on the other end spoke up. "Nero, what's the status of the pirates?"

"No threat, Hardy-Chū_shaaa_," Nero replied with plenty of mirth in his voice as he hopped onto the bulwark closest to Warship Island. "At the current rate of this sinking tub, I'll be able to hop over to the island in a moment or so. Feel free to sink it once I'm out."

"Can't anyone ever just call me Chūsa properly? I get no respect..." The Den Den Mushi's eyes narrowed ever so slightly as the new Marine Commander went on. "I take it this mission you have will be no problem for you, CP9? I hear you're pretty wet behind the ears."

The Cipher Pol agent chuckled at the inquiry of his skills. "It's true that I'm not a master of all six techniques, but the four I've mastered are more than enough to take down a bunch of East Blue guppies drawn in by a golden lure."

"Just don't want you biting off more than _you_ can swallow," the man replied over the call, not sounding nearly as casual as his words led Nero to believe. "If you fail at large things it means you have not large ambitions."

"I'm not sure how to feel about a man who can only Geppō critiquing me, Shaaa..." Nero replied chidingly, finding the situation rather odd in a strangely amusing way. "Besides, you waited for ages getting the specific promotions you needed to work against that Nelson guy. Now that wouldn't be a big deal, except that you didn't end up succeeding at the 'large thing' by yourself anyways."

Whatever the whiskered man had been expecting to hear back from Hardy, chuckling himself into full-blown laughter was quite far on the other end of the spectrum. Calming himself eventually, the man didn't even dignify himself with an average explanation, choosing instead to speak cryptically, "Concentration, focus—that is all. The aptitudes come, the tool forge themselves."

Hearing the ship moan as the fires wore at the wood beneath his feet, the self-titled Yonshiki-user simply gave up trying to chat with the Marine officer, hanging up the Baby Den Den Mushi with only a derisive, "Whatever..." as he leapt out off the air towards Warship Island. _The only 'large thing' about this assignment is the importance and payout; I'll have Kaijōsei in custody in no time, and we'll see how surprised Chief Spandam is when I bring this intel on the Flying Pirate...!_

—-—-—

"Tch..." Hardy sighed out loud as he made another call through his Den Den Mushi, turning to the Marines working other lines. Despite his recent promotion he still wore his usual sailor attire beneath his coat, his arms actually using his sleeves as he gestured to his trio of subordinate sailors in uniform. "Anything from the other Marines we've been contacting, Yamanaka-Jun'i?"

"No pirate activity further out in East Blue," Yamanaka replied as she moved her one long, blond bang from her face so both blue-green eyes had clear view map at the center of their round table of Den Den Mushi and their receivers. "However, most ships within about one-hundred knots of Warship Island can feel massive amounts of seismic activity!" She shook her head with a sigh, her longer blond ponytail trailing shifting off her shoulder down to her lower back as she lamented, "And despite that half of the are still hitting on me..."

The heavy-set Jun'i met her exasperated eyes before patting her on the back, his small black eyes supportive of her plight. Hardy couldn't help but smile as the two zoned out into their own moment before he cleared his throat to get their attention. "Akimichi-Jun'i, your report?"

Scratching his own long brown locks that were far more thick and unruly, Akimichi replaced his cap and turned to his commanding officer apologetically. "Right. There was a report of two pirate ships in combat from one of our ships exiting the Calm Belt, but they reported that they easily sunk one of them. When they went aboard the other, most of the crew had been killed with and the ship was slashed up as if by a clawed monster. The other ship was decently damaged before they opened fire."

"Troublesome..." The third sailor sighed as he sat up from the nearby bench where he had been laying, sorting his hair into a proper black ponytail that wouldn't get in the way of his own Marine cap. "After we confirm that burning wreck Nero hit goes down, we should head there as soon as possible."

Noticing the hard beady-eyed stare from the laziest of the trio, the Commander paused with a quick glance at the bench before levying him a similar look back. "What is it, Nara-Jun'i?"

Cracking his neck with one hand at its base and the other sliding his cap on about his hair-tie, Warrant Officer Nara answered the inquiry without wavering at his comrades' confused faces, "Nero seemed far too certain about lots of pirates being drawn in by a golden lure, but the other enemy ships are nowhere in visible range... And as for a golden lure, it's very likely our friend the Sea Weasel's already been caught—hook, line, and sinker."

The other male Jun'i narrowed his eyes in thought as his comrade spoke, his own focus straying about the same zone his friend had rested... _No, you were too quiet to have been napping. And if you were awake, then—!_ "You saw it...?"

"Yeah..."

Only growing more confused, the blond Marine finally threw her cap down on the table and started shaking her lazy crewmate by his shirt. "Stop talking in riddles and explain things already! What the hell is going on?" Not waiting for the trio to break from their usual chain of reactions, Hardy-Chūsa simply turned to leave only to be called after by her. "Hey, Commander...!"

Pausing with the doorknob in hand, the Marine officer simply, "I am a poet in deeds—not often in words." Ignoring the exasperated sigh he received in reply, he exited out to deck to set their new course. "Alright men, set a course for the other side of the island, and man your stations. Prepare for battle!" As the crew saluted and rushed out to put wind in their sails, he couldn't help but chuckle to himself at his earlier turn-of-phrase before his face cooled solid in focus. _One of _these_ days, huh...?_

—-—-—

Hanging up the Den Den Mushi, the Marine stood as still as he could to avoid the blade at his throat sinking in any further, blood trickling down to the long-sleeved coat of 'justice' resting on his shoulders as he let out a whimper, "T-There, I reported my status as fine, so—!"

"Ah, quite so. You've played your part perfectly."

And like that the blade shifted and slashed straight down the man's chest, the horrid sound of the steel grinding against his sternum echoing out before he collapsed, leaving his thinner, taller attacker in his wake behind him. Struggling to breathe with the incredible pain, the Marine tried to call out after him only for a sudden kick from nowhere to smash into his back, sending him into unconscious,

Removing his striped shoe from the officer's fractured spine, the man swung his hands out to flick the blood from his long-bladed gloves, keeping his black suit and neatly slicked hair untouched in the midst of the burning warship. Lifting the palm of his hand up, he pushed his round-glasses further up his nose to avoid cutting himself with his unique weapons. "Your resolve is only matched by your cowardice and want of life. Considering what happened to Morgan, I'd be amused to see what you'd get up to if Jango were here to hypnotize you..."

From the broken door to the deck, a man with a pair of ears and eye make-up to look like a cat leaned into view. "What's next, Captain Kuro...?"

Walking outside, Kuro walked out to greet his remaining subordinates amidst the dead and the crumbling ship. "Thankfully the Marines are pretty open about information to one another—it seems the Golden Lion's offer is legitimate. The plan goes on, men! We'll hunt down and butcher that tramp, and then we'll finish off Straw-Hat once and for all!"

As his men cheered, it was almost hard to hide his sneer at their foolishness. _Pawns to the last... I have no need of revenge against Straw-Hat so long as I can be done with this fighting; it's almost perfect that Shiki has a plan of his own—and with that woman's death, I can wrap up at least one loose end and move a step closer towards being done with piracy forever!_

—-—-—

"Haha! Not so tough now, are you? You ocean wench, sink to the bottom of the ocean and die!"

_Of all the pirates that had to sneak out and come back to attack, it had to be the _rookie_..._ Koala thought as she heard the target of her disbelief let out a long laugh above the waves. _It's nice that he doesn't notice I faked my fall into the water, but does he have to be so damn _confident_ about it? And he's still calling me that stupid name..._

Swimming to a good angle so the approaching ships lined up decently—already deep enough so her body wouldn't be visible—the brunette noticed the familiar five-million bounty rookie waving a golden shell about towards the floating ships like a badge of pride, somehow calming her pursuers down despite being shot at. _Seriously, how much damage did Arlong even do to Loguetown's prison? Or did Smoker actually loose track of such a wea—_

"What do you mean, I need a body? You all saw her fall, right?"

_Tch,_ she chided herself as she heard the surface conversation grow heated once more, _if I wait too long, they'll just open fire and flush me out. Well, Koala, you're the one who wanted to try other techniques after you managed so much on the fly fighting Arlong. At least Kuroobi can't freak out about using it against these small fry..._ _None of the currents are large enough to completely cover a whole ship, not to mention moving a whole current above water is a bit much._

_Which means... _Gathering her hands together, the martial artist closed her eyes and concentrated on the ocean waves to feel out what she had to work with. _...I'll have to try _that_ move out. _As the ocean waves shifted about her, she locked onto a particularly strong movement and reached out to grip it with her hands, drawing it in her cupped hands to her side as if charging the energy of the ocean. _Hopefully there are no crossed wires among fellow sea creatures._

"Grrr... Fine then, we'll just blow her corpse sky high then!"

_Shit, it's not strong enough ye—!_ As she began to panic, she felt the ocean tremble as a force began pushing beneath her towards the surface. _This is...? Yes...! With this, I can make it work! Got to focus..._

—-—-—

Even from the sky, the floating pirate ships trembled with the sea as earth rose from beneath the waves, threatening to maroon the single oceanic galley with its crescent moon skull and crossbones in their moment of triumph. Before anyone could call for the ships to move, the water seemingly parted before the row of ships to reveal—

"You damn insect-collecting wench!" cried the galley's captain, his orange beard outlined in black trembling as he grated his molars in rage, "Why won't you die?"

"You know..." the brunette began dangerously calm, her eyes closed and her from crouched with her hands behind her, "That insect thing you said was funny the first time we met. But _now_...?" As she spoke a tangible pulse in the air punctuated her words as the water rushed towards her and flowed down her arms to her backside. "Now you just piss me off. Time to wake up and face the music! Merman Combat..."

Behind the grinding of Galley's teeth and the roar of gathering pressure, the pirates aboard the closest floating vessel were privy to what no one else was as they saw the immense volume of water being drawn behind her. Knowing what she had tested before them only minutes ago, they had an idea of what to expect. "**Evasive maneuvers, **_**now**_**!**"

_Looks like I made it with time to spare._ "Too late! Ultramarine!" Launching her hands up toward the line of ships, the ocean water behind Koala expanded beyond her size with tremendous force, creating a pressurized cylinder of water big enough to nearly surround entire ships. Washing over the upper deck of Galley's ship, it moved unbidden by gravity straight over the fleet of flying ships, sweeping away sails, cannons, and crew alike.

—-—-—

"Ack!"

Clutching her ears in pain, Apis nearly fell off the saddle of Umizoui until the elephant-kusarigama could slow its pace and support her with an extended chain-tail. Despite the living weapon's trumpeting worry that she could hear in the background, the sound that overran her supernatural hearing was an immense strain on her thoughts.

_What is this sound? It's like... Wait!_ "Umizoui... Can you lift me up above the treeline...?" Koala's companion hesitated; hoping to convince her to wait, it laid out its thoughts—knowing her Devil's Fruit would translate the meaning. Despite the pain that wracked her face, she insisted with a wavering volume as she did her best to not reveal their position. "Please...!" Relenting, the elephant reached up with its truck and gently lifted her skyward.

Managing to open her eyes at the sight to confirm, she stared agape as the pain began to lessen. "That attack..." _It's just like earlier with Kuroobi: the sound of the ocean tearing away at the shoreline—realistically it's the water in the human body wearing against it. Even though the column of water isn't meant to do so, the wave is still strong enough to transfer that kind of shockwave through to every person caught in its wake. How can she—?_

Before she could continue her train of thought, the trunk lowered back down to the elephant's eye level. "What is it, Umizoui? Do you hear something?" Letting off a quiet trumpet, the weapon turned so the blond girl was facing where they'd come from as she turned her focus that way. "A tremor? No wait... Footsteps...? And weapons being drawn?" Closing her eyes Apis let out a deep breath to calm her pulse and listen out above the marching clods of shoes on earth.

"_Come on. I think the plan is rather nice: instead of fighting Kaijōsei, we take the girl and the village hostage and bring her in ourselves!" "Tch, yeah sure. You're just happy we get to pillage the village." "And you aren't? Besides, this kills two birds with one stone!"_

"Oh no..." the Warship Island native murmured, her eyes still closed while her face echoed her concern as she spoke to her ride. "Pirates are heading to the village! And there's so many... Wait...!"

"_I mean I'm glad we don't have to go toe-to-toe with Kaijōsei no Koala, but catching a kid and some weapon?" "Child or not, she's being defended by a wanted criminal. Even if she's not supporting her, she's the key to keeping her down so Eric and Nelson-Teikoku can finish their mission." "*sigh* This is _not_ what I enlisted in the Marines for at all."_

Finally opening her eyes, Apis looked down to the elephant-kusarigama. "The Marines are here too, but they're here to take you away and use me as bait for Koala." As Umizoui let out an angry trumpet in response while her ability completed a more detailed understanding, the Whisper-Woman patted the animal the head with a small grin. "That's what I thought you'd say. The Marines are closer to the village, but if you can lure them to the pirates, then that ought to tie them up long enough for me to get Koala."

At that, the weapon gave her a hard stare that she knew to be concern without her ability. "I'm plenty capable of avoiding threats, you know. But if you're really that concerned for me, then take that concern and put it towards the villagers I'm concerned about. Besides, I never said you couldn't take the rest of them down yourself and catch up. Alright?" After a moment, the living weapon let out the equivalent of a sigh and set her down on the ground, gesturing pointedly at her with its trunk. "You be careful, too."

Satisfied, Umizoui began to transform while swinging its tail and trunk out, launching itself back to the village as Apis turned back towards the coast. With a nod to herself she closed her eyesand leapt off.

After a moment a figure leapt down from a distant tree, binoculars in one hand while his other adjusted his feathered black hat. "Splitting up, then? Well now... Who _shaaa_ll Ihunt down first?"

—-—-—

"No way... How can a fish be so skilled with a blade?" Cowering on the ground amidst his defeated allies, the last man flinched as his opponent swung his blade harshly from a distance, only to slap him with his fellow pirates' blood as the martial artist cleaned the saber as best he could. _He didn't even notice I was there... _The pirate almost chuckled to himself as he fainted dead away with one last thought... _What a monster..._

Sighing to himself, Kuroobi held the weapon both hands—taking care not to cut his hand foolishly and further mar its sheen. "I suppose the ocean ought to be able to cleanse it well enough as Kairōseki, but... Either way, it feels like a waste of effort and blood." Seeing the turbulent seas, the ray fishman widened his stance before the island's tremors could bring him to the ground. "...So there really is a Lost Island surfacing here, huh...?"

"Ultramarine!"

Whirling his head out to sea at the familiar cry, the martial artist stood agape as he witnessed the aerial spectacle—the entire flying fleet enveloped in a violent column of water. "That technique...!" Kuroobi muttered in awe, but in his head his thoughts were reeling. _If that was Ultramarine, then... Merman Combat? But even if Jinbe wrote about it, he shouldn't be able to detail enough for...!_

Despite having barely said a word, the fishman pirate shook his head at his own thought as he watched his fellow martial artist's distant figure leap into the watery path from the sky. _No... I've been attributing Koala's skill in our Karate and Jūjitsu to Jinbe's ability to teach through written word and diagram, but if she's managed this well in not only Fishman and Merfolk styles, but this Rokushiki...? Then—_

"—There's no way a human can use the techniques of a _Mermaid_... right?"

Before the person behind him could even finish his interjection into his thoughts, Kuroobi had already begun to swing his blade to bear. Instead of no resistance, he felt his blade blocked and pushed back to distance them from him.

"Whoa there!" Landing on their feet was a green fishman of similar stature, their loose dark tie and dress pants matching their spiky short hair. Straightening his bright blue button shirt out as fins behind his ears ruffled beneath the straps of his own orange goggles, his other hand shifted his grip on the sword in his hand. "Well, that was a thing."

"Hmm... A Sailfish-Fishman, I see..." the martial artist murmured out loud, shifting back into a guarded stance.

Hearing the observation, the other fishman simply chuckled. "Well aren't you observant—though I prefer _sailfish-man_ for simplicity—just what I'd expect from an Arlong Pirate Officer. I must admit I had hoped to play the mystery out a bit more, but..." Shrugging his shoulders, the sailfish fishman's blade still swung in the way of his opponent's slash as he grinned. "I always figured you'd be all business, Kuroobi-sama."

Unlike his stoicism before, the ray fishman didn't give the parting comment a single thought as he stared through their crossed blades. "I hope you don't expect me to care how you know me. You hide your intentions from your face, but no one could be ignorant of your bloodlust."

"Fine by me," he replied as they both pushed, sparks flying between their blades. "I'll spare you the trouble: the name's Kitajima. I take it you know why I'm here, then?"

The martial artist blinked as they each stepped back, blade idle at his side. "Honestly? I haven't the faintest."

"W-What...?"

"You comment on Kaijōsei's technique and you clearly are among this riffraff, but you offer platitudes of familiarity and clash blades with me instead. But if the latter is what you want," he paused as he readied his blade once more, "I don't need to know your motive—I'll simply cut you down."

As his opponent went for a lunging stab, Kitajima sidestepped and went for his own, both of them bringing their weapons in for another clash as he grinned. "Not like you weren't thinking about the girl's technique—What's so weird about admitting it? It's like I said: there's no way any human can use our powers, merfolk or fishmen."

Kuroobi scoffed at that as they started trading slashes in a growing cacophony of sound. "You doubt a fighter's strength right before yo—?"

"You've got it backwards, Kuroobi-sama..."

Seeing his opponent raise an eyebrow to the claim, the well-dressed pirate grinned as he suddenly let go of his blade and leap into the air for a roundhouse kick. Not showing surprise as he clashed with the unresisting blade, the ray fishman simply continued his swing and guarded the kick with his fins. "In what way?" Muttering while shifting the saber to his other hand only, he swung out to cut off the offending appendage or force his enemy to remove himself.

Leaping back to his sword stabbing into the earth, Kitajima could only grin at finally keeping a conversation going. "No one can deny her strength at techniques far beyond human skill. She's certainly no fishwoman or mermaid, and using those powers and being able to swim means she has no Devil's Fruit..." Sneering out at the rising island, he took hold of his blade and pointed it to the current battle. "No other reason Shiki-oyabun needs to put her down—she's a pure-blooded _monster_."

"..."

"Okay... Not exactly what I was going for..." the sailfish-man muttered to himself at the thoughtful silence his opponent allowed to permeate. _I thought he'd either agree or more likely get angry; anything but _ponder_ would have made sense. What gives?_

"..." _A monster, huh? _Kuroobi's brow furrowed as his webbed fist tightened about the hilt of his zanbatō. _It's such a pointless attempt to goad me, yet... _"Every sentient being on this earth has the capacity to be a monster at some point in their lives, just as much as they have good in them. I've always said that before you know your enemy, you must know yourself. What many fail to understand is that it's not a one-time thing—you keep reaffirming and confirming who you are and what you want; your goals, resolve, morals, emotions; everything."

Chucking a bit, Kitajima smirked wider and opened his mouth to speak only to nearly eat Sea-Stone and steel as his opponent's sword was thrown straight at his mouth tip-first. Trying to bat the weapon away with his own, he regretted it instantly as it did nothing but sparked against it and burned his lips. Barely crashing to the ground in time with a panicked back-roll, the oversized saber had sliced apart his goggles and left a dripping gash in his forehead as it passed before it sunk itself deep into the ground. "AH! Shit, that hurt! The hell?!"

Kuroobi stood in the same position as if he hadn't moved a single inch, save for the shade over his eyes that came with his darkening expression. "Following in Arlong's exile, as I've come to realize, was where I lost my way. My misplaced anger went unchecked and I lashed out and destroyed so many things blinded by my own emotions, lying to myself that Arlong's beliefs were infallible... But before that time—when I knew who I was, and my ambitions for the future—I began to study what I had believed to be my enemy."

The disheveled pirate blinked as he parroted, "Believed...?" in growing disbelief, putting pressure on his head injury with his free hand while pushing himself back up and readying his own sword. "So you're a traitor to you—!"

"_You_—" he interrupted, his tone of voice mirroring the fire in his eyes that left no room for more argument, "—you don't deny that she can use our power. There are two quotes on power that seem fairly common in the minds of humanity... The first? Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

That made the sailfish-man chuckle, shaking the blood off his hand as he let out an audible swallow, beginning to walk a circle around towards his opponent's blade in the ground. "Not exactly a ringing endorsement..."

If the martial artist had noticed his intentions, he refused to show it as he continued, following the walk with his entire bodily focus as he readied his stance with clenched fists. "Perhaps... Though I'd never be arrogant enough to believe our arts to be 'absolute power', and neither would you."

"And why do you say that?" Kitajima replied with more spittle flying from his mouth than he expected.

"Well for one, you're inching towards my own weapon for its added range and better temper than your own paltry blade."

The injured pirate paused as the ray fishman smirked, only adding to his growing irritation before he grinned back, "A blade is a blade. So long as it cuts down my enemies then what does it matter?" And with that, he threw his own at Kuroobi and wheeled around to draw his opponent's zanbatō. "Your sword is just fi—hrk!" His banter was cut short as the Kairōseki-lined saber failed to budge from its earthen sheath. "W-What? Come on!"

"You should watch where you throw these things..."

The sailfish-man froze with a cold sweat as he heard Kuroobi whisper into his ear, an odd sense of pressure weighing down on him like a fisherman about to gut his catch. Whirling around with a loud cry, his arm swung in a wild reverse haymaker that met with nothing, the martial artist missing. Before he could turn again he felt his bones creak as a hard chop slammed into his upper-spine, sending him stumbling towards the coast before he could get a grip on one knee.

Behind him, the gray fishman chuckled as he drew his saber from the ground. "You've certainly got some toughness to you, since you didn't go down from that. Perhaps I should have actually used a technique...?"

Hearing the clatter of his own sword, Kitajima turned carefully to see his enemy had passed him back his cutlass. "What's the point of giving me back my weapon?" he questioned as he took it in his hands and rose to face him as he looked at his own.

"Because it's yours," Kuroobi replied simply, swinging his sword to remove some of the earth from its sheen. "Wouldn't want you to think I was challenging you with my stronger art. Rather than force you down and crush you completely, I choose to give you the freedom to choose—fight against my blade, engage me in martial arts, or to surrender.

"Surrender...? Don't screw with me!" the green fishman spat, his facial fins spread wide in anger as he brandished his blade. "What makes you think I'd wimp out like that?"

Settling into a horse stance with his blade before him, the swordsman cleared his face of emotion as he clarified. "It is not disrespect to you, but acknowledgement from me. The second thing that humans say about power is thus: With great power, there must also come great responsibility."

Kitajima just blinked. "The hell is that supposed to mean?"

Sighing, he went on without a single change of face as he and the sailfish-man began clashing blades once more. "It is the counter to the corruption of power. Put simply, it is the responsibility of all who have power to use it for the good of others. Of course that phrase seemed meaningless to me in the face of the Tenryūbito's incredible corruption, but..." Suddenly he forced the sailfish-man to leap with a low horizontal swing, a grin forming on his face despite his efforts against it, "...pirate or no, I'd say _she_ has a pretty good head on her shoulders for good."

"You just keep running your mouth all of a sudden..." his opponent replied with his brow furrowed in irritation, having to wipe the blood dripping from above it once more. "I'm really regretting getting you to open those lips of yours, Kuroobi-_sama_..."

"Heh... Be careful what you wish for. In any case..." the martial artist let his chuckling run its course before settling into his neutral poker face once more. _If I really think about it..._

"_I suppose he would since he was a slave, too..."_

_I can't help but wonder how long you suffered, Koala... Were you a slave for that long, or did you simply remember more? You've been dealt a terrible hand and yet in spite of the pain you keep walking forward._ "...if any human could use the arts of Fishman Island for the good of our people, it'd be Koala; I really think she can do it."

—-—-—

"I can't keep doing this... Guh...!"

Below the torrent of water that now flowed above and beyond her into the skies, Koala coughed up another round of blood into the new lake before her, her reflection muddled by the shaking of her arms in its waters and the blood mixing in the waters already stained by others. The skirt of her black dress beneath her knees released water to flow towards the lake, slowly pushing back the crimson tide as she tried to recover.

"At least... the island's rising will... hold the current for now..." she began panting out, actively wiping and washing the blood from her face and hands. Taking in a deep breath in and out as she cleansed the last of the red from her skin, she spit blood harshly into the lake as she rose and turned to see the current. The high point she had stood on had been the head of a calcified dragon; its open maw in conjunction with her attack made it seem almost as if it breathed the water itself. "Nice to know the Sennenryū have my back," she chuckled before turning back to look upon her handiwork.

From within the aerial vortex, the row of shops tumbled down from the sky as the ocean waters cleansed the effects of the Devil's Fruit from them. Many had been pushed back into each other, the collisions as they fell surprisingly explosive as the ships crashed into one another and the newly risen earth below. Only the vessel furthest front was still afloat, having turned to keep just enough of the 'whole' dry.

Crescent Moon Galley's ship, on the other hand—_It's probably a galley, but I can't give him the satisfaction_—took the most damage up front, the deck cleanly torn off from the ship and its crew and innards completely ripped off and thrown into the torrent. The remaining men inside drowned or bled out very quickly into the new lake that had risen near where the brunette stood. Interestingly enough they'd prepared for their encounter with water-protected explosives, which had been dragged past the flying ship and down the current where they'd collided and exploded, slowly breaking the current from the far end.

Sighing at the explosions dotting her current, Koala couldn't help but shake her head. "I know he liked his treasure so money wouldn't be an issue, but where does that rookie keep _finding_ all this stuff... Hmmm?" Hearing commotion back at the floating ship, she saw the remaining men on deck were scrambling about and readying the cannons. Reaching out to the column of water tentatively, the brunette let out a sigh of relief as her hand touched the stream. "Good thing it's no longer damaging... Better sink this last ship before they start shooting at me."

—-—-—

Coughing up the last of the blood and water in his lungs, Galley rolled over onto his back as he gasped for air in pained breaths. His easily recognizable hair styling was shredded, more than a few patches of ripped out roots visible upon his scalp and chin. His right arm clutched his left, blood oozed into his shredded clothes as he tried to keep his fractured bones stable amidst the pain of breathing.

Slowly trying to sit up, he could see the carnage across the ship he now laid upon. Among the dead or downed men speckled across the deck, only one or two weren't members of his crew. They were only a fraction of his men, and yet all of them were bleeding heavily. As for the ship itself, over half was overtaken by the torrent of water that was still peeling pieces of the hull away like an onion.

_Is this... a nightmare...?_ Galley wondered in terror, having never seen such bloody devastation wrought. _I've heard of pirates capable of this, but..._ At that, he keeled down from his sitting position to clear his nausea, his last meal and stomach blood joining the coughing survivors and the silent corpses.

Throat raw from already hacking up blood once, his esophagus burned from the unbidden passage of his stomach acid. With a small amount of stability, he inched his way over to the current. So desperate for relief, he didn't hesitate to gather water in his hands and swallow it greedily, only for his throat to reject its salty burn and force him to expel it again. Falling back flat on his ass again, his lungs continued to gasp for more air in protest, only exasperating his condition. Out of habit, he started to curse only for his vocal chords to refuse his call with a tang of dull pain. _That wench... What the hell has she done to me...? To my crew?!_

Just then a dark shadow blotted out the morning sun from the other side of the current. Looking back down, the form of a woman swimming lightly against the current was silhouetted by the sun on her back. Flowing black tea-length sundress rippling effortlessly in the torrent, her face remained shaded by her unruly locks of brown hair. As she drew one hand back to her waist, palm open against the white belt-like strip, the image clicked in his head. _Kaijōsei!_

"Debatete."

As the word resonated out from the current her hand shot out in a blinding flash that Galley couldn't follow, her hand returned to the task of swimming as she came towards them. But in the moment she stepped out onto the dry deck, there was a quiet rumble before the roar of water echoed below. Stumbling to his feet, the ragged captain looked on in shock as the entire ship slid in half—the submerged half all the way from mast to keel quietly plummeting to the ocean as water filled their own deck from the current.

As their own half started to wobble, the salt water draining away the Devil's Fruit ability keeping it in air, the other surviving pirates scattered across the deck could only look on in horror at the devastation their target had wrought upon their flying formation. Hearing her footsteps as she walked towards them, there was an immediate outcry of terror as they tried to crawl away. Many tried to leap off the ship, forgetting the newly risen island below that led most to fall to their deaths. Others couldn't find the strength or began coughing blood again out of exertion.

Amidst the chaos of fear Galley stood wobbly before her, his voice unable to carry his denial-ridden anger as she approached. But as he stared her down a gust of wind blew her soaked hair back, he realized that she wasn't looking at him but at the men that now fled. A strange look of disgusted horror was frozen on the martial artist's features as she took in the gruesome injuries and deaths she had caused.

_You bitch...!_ Crescent Moon Galley thought, still straining to make his vocal chords echo him as he marched forward with his fist clenched to punch her in the face. _Mocking me with false concern! I'll teach you to ignore me!_ Throwing his attack, there was an audible crack as his remaining good arm fractured from the strain.

The pirate captain let out a strangled cry of pain as he fell back onto the deck while Koala began to speak. "You're pathetic, Galley. I didn't even use Tekkai and your arm went out on you. And yet you still stare at me with those vengeful eyes, whilst your crew runs and cowers in fear." Picking him up by the neck, his arms hung loosely at his sides as she walked him over to the remaining half of the mast. "Luffy was right: remembering you has been a pain in my ass."

Coughing up more blood at her grip, Galley tried to utter his revenge once more_, _but only managed to choke unintelligible sputters before she tightened her grip to silence him. After a moment, the brunette let out a sigh and loosened her grip and let him gasp for air against the remaining half of the mast. After a moment, the orange-haired captain caught his breath and wheezed out, "You'll...pay for this... for everything..."

"Not from you," she replied, "You're just a sad, sorry little man, and you have my pity. Besides..." Pausing, she let a small grin inch up on her face, "You've got your own debts to pay, don't you?"

Despite the blood carrying fresh oxygen to his head, his face grew incredibly pale. "W-What?"

"Did you think I wouldn't notice?" the former slave questioned rhetorically with a shake of her head. "Kairōseki isn't just expensive for its uses but in how hard it is to get without the Marines noticing; same with those explosives you had that could blow despite being wet. You must've taken a hell of a loan for all that and a fresh ship, all for revenge on me?" After a moment of relative silence, she prodded him once more. "Hmmm? What's wrong? Not going to declare your revenge again?"

"Just kill me already."

Koala blinked. "It can't be that much can it?"

Galley spit blood off to the side, her grip loosening in surprise. "You said it yourself before. I'm just a 'waste-of-space rookie' in the Weakest Ocean. If you can mop up all these guys like this, then they really are gonna eradicate us. The fact that you're already suspicious of the methods is all the reason they'll need." Sighing as he slid down his support, he let out a sardonic chuckle. "We're already dead men, Kaijōsei. My crew may not have known for sure, but ultimately they made the right choice jumping off to their death—might even be less painful."

By now her hands were clenched tightly, her nails digging through skin and drawing blood, yet she stayed silent at his fatalistic attitude. Looking up Galley could see her dark-blue eyes were trembling with shock and anger. "Don't give me that look, you wench..." he found himself shouting, forcing him to cough up blood again from the strain on his vocal chords. "You won. The dead don't need the pity of the living."

"Answer me one question." Meeting her eyes, he found himself shaking with her at the blackness that seemed to drag his focus into its depths as he stared into her eyes. "These guys with flying ships, like the ones even higher up in the sky... Are they the ones who will come for you?"

Shaking his head slowly, the injured captain chuckled mirthlessly. "If he had flying ships, I would've taken one myself. These guys just offered an alliance and a plan—kind of hoped it might have helped get some security with that revenge. Now finish it."

"Very well."

Without seeing a single motion, Crescent Moon Galley felt the hit to the back of his head. _She really won't do it..._ he thought as he fell to the side, the darkness overcoming him.

—-—-—

Resting Galley with the other living men down on the island, Koala looked back at the crashed half-ship that joined the Crescent Moon Pirates' own in the lake. The smell of blood lingered across the lake, making her nose cringe as she shook off the last drops of water from when she'd washed her hands. Looking skyward as the Sennenryū descended, she spied the retreating form of a larger flying vessel—its style and design reminiscent of the fleet's. With a mutter of 'Geppō' she leapt into the air after it, but her thoughts remained in what had transpired below.

Images of bloodied corpses flashed through her mind, so many that she couldn't always tell when they had met—or if she had met them at all, or if they were just more of her recurring nightmares. _What have I done...?_ The thought resounded in her head over and over, her shaded eyes flickering to her limbs that still felt unclean. _Why does this keep happening?_

Gripping her abdomen in her other hand as she leapt higher, she felt her nausea increase further. _It wasn't supposed to be like this...!_ Overtaxing herself in the use of Fishman Karate and the like had always resulted in pain—something the self-taught martial artist had attributed to being a human attempting to be a fish. _How do I... how _can_ I keep doing this...?!_ But she'd never seen the aftermath of those efforts, and had no idea that the damage she took was only a paltry amount compared to what happened to those on the receiving end.

...until today.

*sniff* "Damn it... Damn it...!" Far in the sky above the sea of green feathers, her tears instantly evaporated into the air as she narrowed her eyes in on the enemy ship. "Why can't I stop _killing people?! _Damn it all! Geppō!" Launching herself down towards the ship, the former slave left stream of tears behind as she barreled towards the deck with her hands outstretched and clapped together. "Debatet—!"

_No! _Shaking her head, she spread her limbs to slow her descent as she focused in. _I need to find out what is going on, and I can't do that if I stab straight through their ship. _"Tekkai: Suisaiga (Iron Body: Water Calamity Bears Fangs)!" Hardening her body with her hand outstretched in an open palm, the upper deck of the ship offered so little resistance that it rippled into splinters, sending her below to the stone layer below that cracked and fractured for a good twenty feet away. From around her entry point everyone was launched back harshly by a burst of air, slamming them into structures or off the edge. Those that weren't immediately knocked out quickly started coughing blood, clutching their chests from the attack.

_Breathe, Koala... _Following her own mental mantra, she tried to calm herself down before the pirates recovered. _You almost lost it again and tore through another...wait..._ Pulling her hand from where she'd stopped, she gathered a bit of water in her palm and pressed it into the crack to get a sense of the material. _Cobbled stone? No wait...bedrock? Then this isn't just a ship, but a floating island._

"Report to Oyabun immediately—we're under attack!"

_Oyabun, huh...? _Jumping back topside she looked over injured splayed across the deck, her eyes shaded beneath her hair trying to withhold her own self-disgust as her fists clenched._ Even if this 'Boss' of theirs isn't the ability user, I owe them a solid fist in their face. I was finally calming down after Arlong; I _cannot_ loose my focus again, not with Apis and the village right below! _"Soru!"

—-—-—

"An attack...? How many?"

"O-one, sir! The intruder is Kaijōsei herself! Ah—!" And like that, the Den Den Mushi went out.

"Heh..." On the other end of the Den Den Mushi, Shiki the Golden Lion chuckled as he turned to look at the ship, smoke rising and gunshots audible from his own floating perch. "She came up on her own after all. How is it, Dr. Indig—!" Mid-inquiry, the man's head impacted with every squeak of his associate's shoes as he sighed. "_Again_ with the squeaky shoes...?"

Rather than vocally replying, his compatriot began to make elaborate gestures and dance moves, his lab coat flowing in the wind with his polka-dot scarf as he mimed his way from the feathered wing of a partly sedated Sennenryū to the floating rock platform provided by his Captain. With his white make-up, purple sunglasses, indigo tuffs of hair matching his overalls, and perpetual toothy smile, he looked the spitting image of a clown or mime portraying a physician.

Starring at the strange performance before him, the sword-legged man stared for a time before he nodded. "I see. In that case I'll send you back to advance the plan; we've been behind long enough." As he continued talking and Dr. Indigo continued to perform, his comrade's earthen transportation began to float away towards the Calm Belt. "Scarlet should be able to handle her with his new strength, but I can't miss Kaijōsei suffering such an ironic death. Besides... It'd be a shame if she grew up into a pretty little thing only to get it beaten out of her. Jihahahahahahaa!"

As he floated further away from the action while Shiki floated the other way while he laughed again, Dr. Indigo froze in place staring off at his captain for a long moment as they flew separate ways. "...**HE **_**UNDERSTOOD?!**_"

* * *

><p>Techniques<p>

Merman Combat: Ultramarine (Ningyō Jūjitsu: Ultramarine; 人魚柔術: 潤虎真臨). Referenced in Jinbe's book of techniques with help from Aladdin, this technique is the Merman equivalent of Fishman Jūjitsu's Ocean Current Shoulder Throw (Kairyū Ipponzeoi; 海流一本背負い). Rather than altering an existing current, it creates a new one with brute-force instead that can be an effective attack above and below the ocean. Though the technique is Katagana emulating 'English', Koala imagines the technique with the kanji for 'wet/be watered', 'drunk', 'reality', and 'look to/face', roughly translating to "Splash the drunk, face reality."

Tekkai: Suisaiga (Iron Body: Water Calamity Bears Fangs ; 鉄塊: 水災呀). Koala's version of Tekkai "Sai" (Iron Body "Smash"; 鉄塊 "砕"), the shockwave produced via Fishman Karate is a burst of water vapor from her dress that protects her landing. As with Debatete: Senkouki, the power is increased further based on continued descent and pushing with Geppō. The name is a pun on Watercolor painting—水彩画—while both 'sai' are interchangeable in certain words.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry to keep you guys waiting; this whole chapter continued to grow and evolve as I wrote and re-wrote across two notebooks. And then Hardy showed up and in no-small-terms made himself inseparable. Despite the trouble it caused, I do enjoy having more character autonomy that I can feel and observe beyond just Koala. The most important thing is being able to put a chapter up again (and one that has resonant significance with the day), but it definitely confirms that I shouldn't be multitasking my writing—at least till I graduate.<strong>

**That unfortunately also includes a lot of reviewing that I was hoping to do, my ability to keep up with some writing functions, and even a few story readings as of late. I do hope to be more active, but ultimately I have to focus in on my own content first. Thank you for bearing with me, and I hope that it won't be nearly as long before I update again—especially after that roadblock of a cliffhanger... Until next time!**


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